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Fiction. Literature. HTML:This tale of a family in Little Italy is "a minor miracle . . . documenting the madness and the grace of God in everyday life" (Newsweek). On a 1950s September night so hot that the devout Catholics of Little Italy wonder if New York City has slipped into hell, the butcher Joseph Santangelo invites his friends to play pinochle. At the end of a long, sweaty, boozy evening, his friend Lino Falconetti, addled by wine and heat, bets the hand of his daughter, Catherine�??and Santangelo wins. Santangelo's modern new wife clashes immediately with his superstitious, fiercely protective mother. But years later, it is Catherine who is horrified when the daughter they raise turns out to have more in common with the old world than the new. From a New York Times�??bestselling author, this story of two generations of an Italian-American family is imaginative, evocative, funny, and warm�??and was made into an acclaimed film directed by Nancy Savoca, starring Tracey Ullman, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Lil… (more)
User reviews
This is a novel written in two parts. The first half deals with the early years of the marriage of Joseph and Catherine. The second half speeds through important moments in the life of Theresa through age 20. Personally, I enjoyed the first half much more than the second half. Joseph and Catherine are more engaging and even with some tragedy the tone of this half stays light if slightly eccentric. Theresa’s life is told more in the tone of magical realism and I had difficulty understanding some of her motivations and thought processes. Even with the drawbacks that arise near the end, this book is still worth the time. It’s only 225 pages and the pacing is such that you’ll get to the end and it will feel like a blur. It was also quite fun to be immersed in the era and mindset of 1950s little Italy and all the cultural mores that existed in that time.