Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
This substantial collection of mostly original short fiction, poetry and critical essays gives a colorful, if not terribly diverse view of the art and life of Italian Americans. The short stories, on the whole, are excellent, particularly Giose Rimanell's ``Memory of Two Tuesdays,'' detailing a marriage buffeted by the storms of infidelity, and Tony Ardizzone's ``Nonna,'' the senile odyssey of a lonely old woman on her way to the grocery store. Yet the majority of the stories portray variations on the same themes: blue-collar families struggling to make ends meet in a hostile New World, the younger generation disavowing their heritage and longing for WASP-hood. Addressing similar concerns, the poetry is far less effective, the imagery, for the most part, trite and mawkishly nostalgic. The critical essays offer thoughtful examinations of Italian American writers and filmmakers. Robert Viscusi's ``A Literature Considering Itself: The Allegory of Italian America'' and Robert Casillo's ``Moments in Italian-American Cinema: From Little Caesar to Coppola and Scorsese'' are among the best. The editors are academics and editors of the journal Voices in Italian Americana. (Jan.)
From the Margin, Writings in Italian Americana / Edition 1
by Anthony Julian Tamburri, Paolo Giordano, Fred L. Gardaphe
- ISBN: 1557531528
- ISBN-13: 9781557531520
- Edition: Revised
- Pub. date: 10/28/2000
- Publisher: Purdue University Press
Paperback
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This anthology, hailed as a significant contribution to American ethnic studies, features the short stories, poems, and plays of more than thirty Italian American artists. Drawing on their individual and collective backgrounds and experience, these writers convey another vision of American fife. A section of critical essays by established scholars in the field, with topics ranging from specific works and authors to broad literary movements and film studies, analyzes the Italian American phenomenon and the role of ethnicity in literature. The extensive bibliography treats creative works, critical essays, and films dealing with the Italian American experience and promises to be an invaluable research tool.
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Library Journal
This anthology is designed to appeal to both popular and scholarly audiences. Slightly more than half the selections are creative works, the rest being essays on specific Italian/American masterpieces and such general topics as the films of Coppola and Scorsese. Thus, it is not hard to imagine one reader reacting to Fred L. Gardaphe's story ``Mora Amore'' by saying, ``That's just how Grandpa used to talk'' and another calling the same work (to paraphrase the introduction) ``an example of the cultural dissonance produced by historical process.'' Both nostalgia and scholarship are appealed to, and so are the taste buds: even the criticism refers unceasingly to pastry, a sip of wine, the scent of garlic on one's fingers. Buon appetito! -- David Kirby, Florida State Univ., TallahasseeBooknews
This anthology features poetry, fiction, and critical essays by Italian-American writers, focusing on their experiences as such. A critical bibliography and filmography are also included. Contributors include scholars in literature, history, and American studies, as well as poets and other writers. Topics include the role of Italian- American literature in a multicultural canon, the roots of Italian- American literature in an oral culture, ethnic language, the experience of women in Italian-American culture, and the immigrant experience in America. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)