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My Two Italies (2014)

by Joseph Luzzi(Favorite Author)

3.72 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0374298696 (ISBN13: 9780374298692)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

review 1: A Journey of Identity I watched a short video on FB of Professor Luzzi discussing the reasons he wrote this book, and was quickly drawn to his story by the strong similarity in our Italian-American experience. I'm an Italian immigrant from Naples Italy, and understand the struggles of Southern Italians trying to adjust to the American life-style. I think most Americans understand how difficult it must be for immigrants to adjust to a new American life style but what Professor Luzzi describes so well is the struggle for Italians to understand each other. Most Americans don't realize how different the cultures of Italy really are. Most second and third generation Italian-Americans don't understand the cultural differences themselves, and sadly many don't know what part of... more Italy their ancestors came from. My Two Italies is not only a personal journey of coming to terms with Joseph Luzzi identity but a wonderful account of the history of a country that has given so much to the world. Professor Luzzi describes the differences of the North and South while the reader follows his personal journey of coming to terms with his Southern Italian identity. This is a must read for all who wish to understand the complex Italian Culture. Bravo Professor Luzzi
review 2: This was a very interesting and well-written book, a combination of memoir and cultural-political commentary, written by an American-born son of immigrants from Calabria (southern Italy). I heard him interviewed on the CBC and enjoyed the interview, so I ordered the book.Though from a poor family, the author, through scholarships, went to Yale and became a professor of Italian literature. His many trips to Italy were to Florence - cultural centre of northern Italy. Southern Italy is very different - the people look different (dark), the economy is worse (or was when his parents emigrated) and is looked down on by the cultivated northern Italians.Meanwhile he, as an American (albeit of Italian extraction), always felt he was an outsider in Florence. When he finally visited his parents' village in Calabria, there everyone looked like him. Though he could barely speak their dialect.His "two Italies" are both north/south, and American/Italian - as experienced by him (that's why MY two Italies). He is a good writer and really brings the various parts of HIS Italies alive. less

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