What It Is Like Growing Up Italian In America

Joanna Clapps Herman tells it like it was for so many Italians growing up in America in the twentieth century.  Every story becomes more telling than the next—what a grounding read. Here, Herman feeds and waters memories now that those who made those memories are nearly all gone and all the important old ones are gone. For me, that means two aunts by marriage and one 90-year old half-blood cousin are all who are left of my parents brothers and sisters.

Of course, a great deal of the charm of Herman’s stories is that they are true originals that are fantastically entertaining.

For me, this book hooked me from the start and reading it to completion became a priority I read every spare minute until I finished. And when I finished it, I wanted more stories.