As a child growing up in a proud Italian-American household, I regaled in the stories about my ancestors, their hardscrabble lives, and the courage it took for them to leave their homelands and come to New York to settle in America and create a new home. But when I went to school, a Catholic school at that, I suffered miserably at the hands of the families of other ethnicities that only knew stories about the Mafia, greasers, and other low-down stereotypes of dark-skinned men in wife beaters and chubby matriarchs in aprons sweating over pasta pots for hours each day.

I wish I could find some of those bullies and put a copy of THE ITALIAN AMERICANS into their hands. This book gives my family’s history a full-scale analysis of the myths and the memories of that grand exodus --- from the old country to the freedom-loving shores of America and all the wonderful things brought with them to this new world.

"With over 200 photos, THE ITALIAN AMERICANS...is a fantastic volume that looks at a history of a people in full view and brings the past to life while highlighting the excitement of a hard-won future for a proud and beautiful people."

“Understandably, hyphenated Americans tend to romanticize the immigrant journey and present these tales through a lens of heroism in the face of hardship, leading ultimately to success…. As the American mythologist Joseph Campbell famously patterned, the structure of myth has remained the same through the millennia: a hero with limited awareness has a ‘call to adventure,’ confronts dangers and enemies along the way and, if he survives this road of trials, rededicates himself with renewed mastery and greater awareness…. Unlike other nineteenth-century immigrant groups, Italian Americans had several calls to adventure, crossing the perilous ocean more than once.” And so Maria Laurino, who teaches creative nonfiction at NYU, spans the decades to put together the most insightful and truthful look at an immigrant race and their subsequent finding of a new home here in the US.

The book is written with great care to highlight not only the successes of the most famous members of immigrant families (the crooner from Hoboken and the slugger from San Francisco, the mayor of New York City and the Mouseketeer with the beautiful smile), but also the darker aspects of the experience. Archival research and firsthand interviews are used to bring the reader closer to what the actual immigrant experience was like for most families. When she approaches the story of Sacco and Vanzetti, the political actions that inspired their acts of violence are discussed in depth. Yes, the radicalism of Fiorello LaGuardia in his fight against Tammany Hall is celebrated, but the depths of despair to which he had to dip in order to find the strength to make this fight a winning one for the good guys is a particularly stirring segment.

Even the Italian cuisine brought to these shores from the Mediterranean went from the food of the poor to superfoods that are enjoyed all over the world now, in fancy establishments and in the homes of those who see food as fuel as well as comfort. Laurino leaves no stone unturned in her quest to express fully the myriad of ways in which this immigrant experience changed the face of the America we know and, through to this day, as with her discussions with Nancy Pelosi, the first female Speaker of the House, the America that is still evolving. This gorgeous volume should have a place on the shelves of all Italian families and anyone else who celebrates the way that the patchwork evolution of our American populace came to be.

With over 200 photos, THE ITALIAN AMERICANS --- a companion to the PBS documentary series that premieres Tuesday, February 17th --- is a fantastic volume that looks at a history of a people in full view and brings the past to life while highlighting the excitement of a hard-won future for a proud and beautiful people.