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Title: Under the Southern Sun: Stories of the Real Italy and the Americans It Created by Paul Paolicelli ISBN: 0-312-28765-8 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: March, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.33 (9 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Proud to be Southern Italian
Comment: I haven't read "Dances With Luigi" yet but I will be sure to check it out now after reading Paul's sophomore effort, "Under The Southern Sun." It's been a long time since a book had me so captivated and made me wanting more.
This is not your conventional "I went to find my Italian roots" book. Paul was on an even bigger quest: To find what value system the Southern Italian immigrants brought over with them. He set out to tell the story from the Italian side of immigration, and I believe he did his job and then some.
I was pleased that Paul was so forthright about the prejudice against Southern Italians by Northern Italians and the history of Southern Italy (some areas pre-dating the Roman and Greek empires). He tackled the subject tactfully and his and his subjects' honesty was a welcome breath of fresh air.
Regarding various Italian settlements around this country: I was surprised to find out that there is an Italian settlement in Denver, Colorado. I was a bit irritated that more mention was made of that and the settlements in North Jersey and New York and no mention whatsoever made of Italians in Philadelphia (besides South Philadelphia).
In all, Paul did an excellent job of conveying the belief and value system of Southern Italians. This book not only made me even more proud to be from the southern part of Italy, it has made me want to make that trip to my ancestral home (Calabria - provincia di Cosenza and Campania - provincia di Salerno), and experience my roots firsthand.
Rating: 5
Summary: Bridging the Gap
Comment: Most Italian travel and culture books focus on Italian customs and the way visitors react to them. Paolicelli's book is about both, and more. The author recounts his search for cultural roots through the dual perspectives of a second-generation Italian-Americ. But he also has the good sense to let his subjects tell their own stories. The book is part memoir, part oral history. No book has taught me more about the simple but sustaining strengths my grandparents brought to America from Southern Italy almost a century ago than UNDER THE SOUTHERN SKY. I feel I'm reading a chapter in my own family history in the following lines, which the author quotes from one of his Italian friends: "They went to America without formal education, without any wealth or influence, but they carried with them over two thousand years of knowledge of culture and of people. And they thrived. They knew the stories of mankind."
"Southern Sky" complements the author's first book, DANCES WITH LUIGI, but it doesn't repeat it. Anyone interested in exploring family and cultural origins will enjoy both books.
Rating: 5
Summary: Paul does it again!
Comment: I waited a long time to read this book; and I was not disappointed. Paul's odyssey through southern Italy is well
described with anecdotes about people he met, the climate, the food, and the language. I went through the entire book laughing
and thinking "AHA!"
He made it as authentic as he could using words in a book. I thought of my grandparents often, as he echoed sentiments I have felt, and that they had showed me in many many ways.
My grandfather was not an articulate man. He was quiet and rarely had much to say. As a child I recall peppering him with questions about his childhood, about Italy, and not getting very satisfying responses. Paul has done a good job of answering the questions.
If you, like me, have this incredible longing to go back (and I have) to where your family is from, this book will help show you the way.
I recommend this book to the millions of italian americans out there, who are wondering where they came from. Paul will explain.
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Title: Dances with Luigi : Stories of the Real Italy and the Americans It Created by Paul E. Paolicelli ISBN: 0312283806 Publisher: Griffin Trade Paperback Pub. Date: 06 November, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Stolen Figs: And Other Adventures in Calabria by Mark Rotella ISBN: 0865476276 Publisher: North Point Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Calabrian Tales by Peter Chiarella ISBN: 1587900300 Publisher: Regent Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: Were You Always an Italian?: Ancestors and Other Icons of Italian America by Maria Laurino ISBN: 0393321959 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: June, 2001 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: By the Ionian Sea: Notes of a Ramble in Southern Italy (Marlboro Travel Series) by George Gissing ISBN: 0810160102 Publisher: Marlboro Pr Pub. Date: July, 1996 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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