With Memorial Day having just passed, marking the unofficial start of summer, Anthony and I decided to share an excerpt from my memoir, The Dreams that Break Your Heart. This chapter is about a trip down the Shore in Jersey, which is a summer ritual familiar to countless East-Coast Italian …
family history
The story of us: Italian Americans and The Godfather trilogy
“None of us here want to see our children follow in our footsteps, it’s too hard a life.” ― Mario Puzo, “The Godfather” This line from Puzo’s pop-culture masterpiece is really the immigrant’s anthem – to sacrifice so that your children (and generations afterward) do not have to struggle as you …
IAP 08: Were You Always an Italian? Maria Laurino on History, Identity, and Stereotypes
In this episode of The Italian American Podcast, we speak to author Maria Laurino, who has written for numerous publications, including The New York Times, and whose essays are widely anthologized. Her first memoir, Were You Always an Italian?, (W.W. Norton, 2000) was a national bestseller and …