Vina: A Brooklyn Memoir

Vina: A Brooklyn Memoir PDF Author: Joseph C. Polacco
Publisher: Compass Flower Press
ISBN: 1942168640
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 213

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Book Description
Joe Polacco has written a wonderful tribute to his mother, Vina, and in the process has learned about himself. This memoir is told with humor, and is a tale of extended family in Brooklyn headed by the author's mother, the kind and big-hearted Vina. It's all about the family, the neighborhood, and most of all about Vina. She is beautiful, selfless, a creative designer and knows how to laugh and make others laugh. She is a master of Italian cuisine, admired for her original recipes, which are willingly shared. What more could anyone want in a Mom? More to the point which of us would not want to claim Vina as Mom? And all the characters in the memoir willingly testify that they love Vina and claim her as their own. The author has a love of--and knack for—foreign language and dialects. In New York City, specifically Brooklyn, the whole world can be found in this one place. And you'll find Joe Polacco and Vina in this melting pot. But be careful not to melt down as you laugh through the pages while commemorating those who have passed before, and after, Vina.

Vina: A Brooklyn Memoir

Vina: A Brooklyn Memoir PDF Author: Joseph C. Polacco
Publisher: Compass Flower Press
ISBN: 1942168640
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 213

Get Book Here

Book Description
Joe Polacco has written a wonderful tribute to his mother, Vina, and in the process has learned about himself. This memoir is told with humor, and is a tale of extended family in Brooklyn headed by the author's mother, the kind and big-hearted Vina. It's all about the family, the neighborhood, and most of all about Vina. She is beautiful, selfless, a creative designer and knows how to laugh and make others laugh. She is a master of Italian cuisine, admired for her original recipes, which are willingly shared. What more could anyone want in a Mom? More to the point which of us would not want to claim Vina as Mom? And all the characters in the memoir willingly testify that they love Vina and claim her as their own. The author has a love of--and knack for—foreign language and dialects. In New York City, specifically Brooklyn, the whole world can be found in this one place. And you'll find Joe Polacco and Vina in this melting pot. But be careful not to melt down as you laugh through the pages while commemorating those who have passed before, and after, Vina.

Giovanni, Street Urchin of Naples

Giovanni, Street Urchin of Naples PDF Author: Joseph Polacco
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780578763767
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
The slums of early 20th century Naples is a dangerous place. Threatened by violence and disease, thirteen-year-old scugnizzo-street urchin-Giovanni survives by his wits and by alliances with the few he can trust. He and beautiful Filomena eventually escape to Brooklyn, America, founding their own business and home. Their Brooklyn family sends offshoots to LA, Las Vegas and the Ivy League. Family members serve America in both World Wars and in Korea.As Giovanni integrates into American life he maintains his good humor and finds family among Americans of all origins. But creeping racist attitudes threaten that broader family. Giovanni's scugnizzo experiences sharpen his own eye for underhanded and illegal activities by American authorities. Some question Giovanni's loyalty and whether he fully washed himself free of the filth of Naples' harbor.

Five-Finger Discount

Five-Finger Discount PDF Author: Helene Stapinski
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN: 0375758704
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
Now a PBS documentary, this astonishing memoir of growing up in rough-and-tumble Jersey City “will steal your heart” (People) With deadpan humor and obvious affection, Five-Finger Discount recounts the story of an unforgettable New Jersey family of swindlers, bookies, embezzlers, and mobster-wannabes. In the memoir Mary Karr calls “a page-turner,” Helene Stapinski ingeniously weaves the checkered history of her hometown of Jersey City—a place known for its political corruption and industrial blight—with the tales that have swirled around her relatives for decades. Navigating a childhood of toxic waste and tough love, Stapinski tells an extraordinary tale at once heartbreaking and hysterically funny. Praise for Five-Finger Discount “By turns hilarious and alarming, [Helene Stapinski’s] book reads on the surface like something by Damon Runyon and Elmore Leonard, with a dark undertow of real-life pain and disillusion.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times “It’s a brilliant book, a darling book. It is the blessedly modest chronicle of a magical consciousness that seems to have been born pulling diamonds out of the muck, hearing angels’ voices in the fiercest thunder. . . . I adored every word of this wondrous book. Get it. Read it.”—Michael Pakenham, The Baltimore Sun “In the tradition of . . . Rita Mae Brown and Amy Tan, Ms. Stapinski is an exciting writer, unabashedly candid, and at the same time unashamedly self-contained. Five-Finger Discount is a must-read.”—Victoria Gotti, The New York Observer “What [Frank] McCourt did for Limerick, Ireland, Helene Stapinski does for Jersey City.”—The Star-Ledger “Hugely entertaining.”—The Sunday Times (London)

Modernism, Gender, and Culture

Modernism, Gender, and Culture PDF Author: Lisa Rado
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136515607
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
Focusing on cultural practices, and gender issues during a period of the early 20th-century that witnessed radical transformations in sex roles, this anthology of original (and one classic) essays will generate a greater understanding of women's contributions to modernist culture, and explore how that culture was affected by gender issues. The essays provide a wealth of insights into literature, painting, architecture, design, anthropology, sociology, religion, science, popular culture, music, issues of race and ethnicity, and the influence of 20th-century women and sexual politics.

The Interpreter

The Interpreter PDF Author: Suki Kim
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 1429923784
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
A striking first novel about the dark side of the American Dream Suzy Park is a twenty-nine-year-old Korean American interpreter for the New York City court system. Young, attractive, and achingly alone, she makes a startling and ominous discovery during one court case that forever alters her family's history. Five years prior, her parents--hardworking greengrocers who forfeited personal happiness for their children's gain--were brutally murdered in an apparent robbery of their fruit and vegetable stand. Or so Suzy believed. But the glint of a new lead entices Suzy into the dangerous Korean underworld, and ultimately reveals the mystery of her parents' homicide. An auspicious debut about the myth of the model Asian citizen, The Interpreter traverses the distance between old worlds and new, poverty and privilege, language and understanding.

Nowhere Man

Nowhere Man PDF Author: Robert Rosen
Publisher: Ed Rosenthal
ISBN: 9780932551511
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
An intimate journey through John Lennon's final years. Including photos of Lennon and family.

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina PDF Author: Zoraida Córdova
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1982188413
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Perfect for fans of Alice Hoffman, Isabel Allende, and Sarah Addison Allen, this is a gorgeously written novel about a family searching for the truth hidden in their past and the power they’ve inherited, from the author of the acclaimed and “giddily exciting” (The New York Times Book Review) Brooklyn Brujas series. The Montoyas are used to a life without explanations. They know better than to ask why the pantry never seems to run low or empty, or why their matriarch won’t ever leave their home in Four Rivers—even for graduations, weddings, or baptisms. But when Orquídea Divina invites them to her funeral and to collect their inheritance, they hope to learn the secrets that she has held onto so tightly their whole lives. Instead, Orquídea is transformed, leaving them with more questions than answers. Seven years later, her gifts have manifested in different ways for Marimar, Rey, and Tatinelly’s daughter, Rhiannon, granting them unexpected blessings. But soon, a hidden figure begins to tear through their family tree, picking them off one by one as it seeks to destroy Orquídea’s line. Determined to save what’s left of their family and uncover the truth behind their inheritance, the four descendants travel to Ecuador—to the place where Orquídea buried her secrets and broken promises and never looked back. Alternating between Orquídea’s past and her descendants’ present, The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina is an enchanting novel about what we knowingly and unknowingly inherit from our ancestors, the ties that bind, and reclaiming your power.

The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad PDF Author: Mary Ellen Snodgrass
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317454162
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 847

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Book Description
Provides a look at the network known as the Underground Railroad - that mysterious "system" of individuals and organizations that helped slaves escape the American South to freedom during the years before the Civil War. This work also explores the people, places, writings, laws, and organizations that made this network possible.

Civil Disobedience

Civil Disobedience PDF Author: Mary Ellen Snodgrass
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317474414
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 759

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Book Description
Throughout American history, people with strong beliefs that ran counter to society's rules and laws have used civil disobedience to advance their causes. From the Boston Tea Party in 1773, to the Pullman Strike in 1894, to the draft card burnings and sit-ins of more recent times, civil disobedience has been a powerful force for effecting change in American society.This comprehensive A-Z encyclopedia provides a wealth of information on people, places, actions, and events that defied the law to focus attention on an issue or cause. It covers the causes and actions of activists across the political spectrum from colonial times to the present, and includes political, social economic, environmental, and a myriad of other issues."Civil Disobedience" ties into all aspects of the American history curriculum, and is a rich source of material for essays and debates on critical issues and events that continue to influence our nation's laws and values. It explores the philosophies, themes, concepts, and practices of activist groups and individuals, as well as the legislation they influenced. It includes a detailed chronology of civil disobedience, listings of acts of conscience and civil disobedience by act and by location, a bibliography of primary and secondary sources, and a comprehensive index complete the set.

The New York Times Book Review

The New York Times Book Review PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Books
Languages : en
Pages : 936

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Book Description