Book Description for Birds of Passage:
What turns the gentle mean and the mean brutal? The thirst for wealth? The demand for respect? Vying for a woman? Birds of Passage
recalls the Italian immigration experience at the turn of the
twentieth-century when New York’s streets were paved with violence and
disappointment.
recalls the Italian immigration experience at the turn of the
twentieth-century when New York’s streets were paved with violence and
disappointment.
Leonardo
Robustelli leaves Naples in 1905 to seek his fortune. Carlo Mazzi
committed murder and escaped. Azzura Medina is an American of Italian
parents. She’s ambitious but strictly controlled by her mother. Leonardo
and Carlo vie for her affection.
Robustelli leaves Naples in 1905 to seek his fortune. Carlo Mazzi
committed murder and escaped. Azzura Medina is an American of Italian
parents. She’s ambitious but strictly controlled by her mother. Leonardo
and Carlo vie for her affection.
Azzura,
Leonardo, and Carlo confront con men, Tammany Hall politicians, the
longshoreman’s union, Camorra clans, Black Hand extortion, and the Tombs
prison.
Leonardo, and Carlo confront con men, Tammany Hall politicians, the
longshoreman’s union, Camorra clans, Black Hand extortion, and the Tombs
prison.
Buy the book here: Amazon
"With Birds of Passage,
Joe Giordano delivers a rollicking, wholly entertaining take on the
Italian immigrant story. His rich cast of characters arrives seeking
the usual: Money, honor, love, respect, a decent shot at the pursuit of
happiness. But things get complicated fast as they plunge into the
rough-and-tumble world of rackets, scams, and politics of early
20th-century New York City. Giordano serves up a thick, satisfying
slice of the entire era in all its raw and brutal glory."
Joe Giordano delivers a rollicking, wholly entertaining take on the
Italian immigrant story. His rich cast of characters arrives seeking
the usual: Money, honor, love, respect, a decent shot at the pursuit of
happiness. But things get complicated fast as they plunge into the
rough-and-tumble world of rackets, scams, and politics of early
20th-century New York City. Giordano serves up a thick, satisfying
slice of the entire era in all its raw and brutal glory."
Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, soon to be a major motion picture directed by Ang Lee.
The Kindle copy of Birds of Passage will be free to download for
five days starting the day after the end of this virtual tour
(Saturday, November 7th through Wednesday, November 11th)Guest Post
3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, &, Sissy, Too! would like to thank author Joe Giordano for sharing his thgoughts with us today
Birds
of Passage, an Italian Immigrant Coming of Age Story
Joe
Giordano
My father and
grandparents all emigrated from Naples to New York. As with the
character, Guido Basso in Birds of Passage, both my
grandfathers were ragmen. Their labor was dirty and backbreaking, but
they were their own padrone. My father was the last immigrant
in my family. He acquired just a seventh-grade education before he
set out to work. Unemployed for a long period during the Great
Depression, he found a job in a warehouse. Working rapidly to impress
the boss, he reached up for a box atop which a vase had been left.
The glass knickknack slipped and shattered onto the concrete floor.
My father was fired on the spot. Not deterred, he started his own
business.
My mother was one
of five daughters employed at home doing piece work so her family
could earn enough money to leave the tenement. Eventually her family
purchased a home in Brooklyn.
When I was growing
up, if my father and I passed a man doing hard manual labor, my
father would say to me, “See that? Go to school.”
Many Italian-Americans stand upon the shoulders of those intrepid
enough to try and make a better life in a new country. Birds of
Passage is not a biography about my family, but I’m old enough
to have known people who were born in the nineteenth century. In the
novel I tried to capture how Italian immigrants of past generations
thought and acted.
Author's Bio:
Joe
Giordano was born in Brooklyn. His father and grandparents immigrated
to New York from Naples. Joe and his wife, Jane have lived in Greece,
Brazil, Belgium and the Netherlands. They now live in Texas with their
shih tzu Sophia. Joe's stories have appeared in more than sixty
magazines including Bartleby Snopes, The Newfound Journal, and The
Summerset Review.
Giordano was born in Brooklyn. His father and grandparents immigrated
to New York from Naples. Joe and his wife, Jane have lived in Greece,
Brazil, Belgium and the Netherlands. They now live in Texas with their
shih tzu Sophia. Joe's stories have appeared in more than sixty
magazines including Bartleby Snopes, The Newfound Journal, and The
Summerset Review.
Win 1 of 3 copies of Birds of Passage (print book USA & Canada) (ebook international)
Tour Schedule:
Thanks for your support.
ReplyDeleteJoe Giordano
Thank you for posting such a great article. Keep it up mate.
ReplyDeletetnsc net banking - Registration/Login Online, TNSC - Internet Banking