Sitting at my Grandpa Sicilia's table in Hibbing at least once a month for Sunday dinner during my first two decades, listening to the conversation swirl around me in Italian, broken English, and fervent gesture, there were so many unanswered questions --- so many things I wanted to ask -- but in my heart of hearts I knew in so many ways that we did not speak the same language. Luckily Gaetano Talese, growing up in Atlantic City about the same time, was in much the same position. This book is the result of his research, interviews, and reflection on his own experience . It's an epic book, an amazing amalgamation of history, biography, fiction and drama which makes mince meat of the careful distinctions we make between those genres. It tells the story of a family (the Talese of Maida, a ancient herding town built into a mountain hillside of Calabria), a people (Southern Italians) and two lands (Italy and the United States) as well as four generations - the parents left behind, the original immigrant, the immigrant's son (himself an immigrant), and the second immigrant's son (American born and bred). I learned much more from this book about the historic complexity of the land from which my grandparents came than the dozens of lengthy histories I have read on the subject over the years perhaps because it is such a personal story set in a much larger context. It cleared up several mysteries: for example, the story of the "white widows" - the women, like my grandmother, left behind with the children while their husbands went off to God only knew where , sending much needed money back and returning every few years to sire a new child or two and go off again. I found it thoroughly engaging perhaps because it was as familiar to me as my own genetic structure ---- and as much of a mystery to me as that, too. I am unsure whether or not readers with roots in other times and places would find it as compelling, but I couldn't put it down and when, in the end, the town of Maida, thousands of years in the making, is bombed into oblivion in one single afternoon of Allied raids and Gay Talese's father, Joseph, in his outrage and despair, destroys the model airplanes his son has so carefully been making in his room , I was very, very sad to see it end, but I thoroughly understood the final line: "Those who love you make you cry...."
Gay Talese is a seasoned American journalist and writer. This book is about his family roots. It took him 10 years to research the history of his family from pre World War I to World War II. The details are very rich, straightforward without having too much peppers.Talese's writing is as stylish as the content of his wardrobe. Despite being a non-fiction book, Talese didn't hurt the readers' eyes with footnotes, but using bibliography. This very captivating book is written in a literature style. Trust me, you'd feel like you're reading a novel. Even better! It is full of characters (mostly men) and it has scenes like in the movies. His punchline is sometimes witty, sad, exhilarating. But it's all very human, without being overly emotional.The most interesting thing was the way Talese described and drew the connection between the facts he discovered in the past with the present. The part about La Guardia (one of New York's Mayor), Coppola (the famous film maker), even Lucky Luciano (the gangster) and the Allied Forces were most interesting. Though my favourite was the scene when he saw Joe Di Maggio (famous ball player) in a restaurant. Boy that was something ;)Highly recommended.PS: It's not a fiction, it's a non-fiction.
Do You like book Unto The Sons (2006)?
DISCLAIMER: I only read the first ~50 pages. I feel that is enough to give a book a chance and write a partial review, so here goes:This book is a collection of stories about present and past family members of the author. It jumps from person to person and not in chronological order (something I typically like). While some stories approached interesting I was bored immediately and consistently. I started the book on a long, late plane flight, and had to put it down. I blamed the plane, gave it a second chance while awake and focused, and found the book to be exactly as boring. The details described are mundane, which, fine, but the writing isn't good enough or intereting enough to make me care. By way of example: I stopped reaeding Unto the Sons during a scene in which the young author lights candles in a church. I have no idea why I should care about this. The writing is deadpan and mostly lacking in introspection (the author does say that he found himself enjoying being the center of attention as the church waited for him to finish, but this didn't leave me riveted or pondering humanity's need for attention). I immediately started a new book, Memoirs from the House of the Dead (Dostoevsky). The first non-introductory chapter also describes boring details (albeit of prisoners in siberia) yet I am constantly surprised, both by the insights and by the form (Dostoevsky has a way of writing clever descriptions that even in transalation surprise and delight). I'm Italian American and was prepared to like Unto the Sons right away. Instead I find myself identifying with the misfit criminals described by a Russian author who lived hundreds of years ago.
—Kenny
I've been buried in this tome for months, and thoroughly enjoyed every minute. UNTO THE SONS is Talese's boyhood memoir / family history / ode to southern Italy / Italian history from the southerner's perspective. It's about the most rambling book I've ever read, and yet it works simply because Talese is a master of the interesting detail. It doesn't hurt that his family members have participated in significant events in Italian history. Talese is curious about the connections between private lives and sweeping public events and movements, and his curiosity is infectious.
—Elizabeth Andrew
I enjoyed this as much or more than everything else I have read by Talese. This is no light read, though. The historical detail packed into the pages was literally exhausting at times but I never contemplated putting it down. Talese's writing just won't allow that. It took a solid two months to read as I would pick up a magazine or some such every week or so but this book is so worth your time. If you are from an Italo-American family this is a must-read. If you are a fan of history, memoir or just great non-fiction right, you will love it as well.
—Lawrence
