Life Al Dente: Laughter and Love in an Italian-American Family

by Gina Cascone

Book Overview

With the irreverence, gutsy spirit, and warmhearted hilarity that made Pagan Babies a classic, here is the Italian-American experience served up by the author who has been crowned the Patron Saint of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 074345328X
• ISBN13: 9780743453288
• Release Date: July 2003
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 187 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Life al Dente: Laughter and Love in an Italian-American Family

Life al Dente is a wonderfully written and well-spun story that will take anyone back to their youth to remember the finer things in life. Gina Cascone reminds us that family, no matter how flawed, is a constant source of joy and strength. As a writer of a number of novels, I enjoyed the pace and flow of the story. It painted beautiful images in my mind that left me smiling chapter after chapter.

I loved it!

Oh my, I laughed so much reading this book...she nailed my family so well...thank you

Love and laughter, Italian style

Ah, to have the relatives, the wit, and the warm memories of a flawed but sincerely loving, close-knit Italian family such as Gina Cascone's. But even with the same material, few could render the experience of growing up Italian and female in suburbia as well as Cascone has done in this, her 2nd book. The eels! Omigod, the eels for Christmas dinner, first writhing in the bathtub, then writhing around your arm, then writhing on the chopping block, and STILL writhing as, cut into cross-sections, they were tossed into the saute pan! Now, that's a memory few can share. Funny, sad, sentimental, tolerant, it's everything you could want from a short little book. But the overwhelming feeling that comes through is Cascone's love and gratitude for her family.Don't miss it.

warm and fuzzy

I really enjoyed this book! As an Iranian, I loved getting a behind the scenes look at an Italian family and was struck by the universality of the experiences. This book, however, should come with a warning--the description of foods leaves the reader hankering for an Italian meal! Thank you Gina, for sharing your family and childhood with the rest of us.

You don't have to be Italian to love this

This is a warm and very funny memoir with a serious point -- that the child's take on the American dream may be quite different from the parent's. Part "Sopranos" (without the violence) and part "My Big Fat Italian Wedding (with recipes), it's the story of a spirited Italian girl's journey out of "the neighborhood" and into the heart of WASP culture. Unfortunately, it ends too soon; I hope Ms. Cascone gives us a sequel.