Introduction: Why Don't Tell Mama! The Penguin Book of Italian American Writing? xvii --
Explanatory Notes and Caveats to the Introduction / Hugo Barreca xxv
From Under the Rose: A Confession 1
Carol Bonomo Albright, Elvira Di Fabio --
"Introduction to Rocchietti's Lorenzo and Oonalaska" 6 --
Selections, Lorenzo and Oonalaska (1835) 8
"Sinatra's 'Associations' with the Mob" 15
"Holy Cards," from Taking It Home: Stories from the Neighborhood 18
"Buried Alive by Language," from Chiaroscuro: Essays of Identity 37 --
"Classic and Good," from More Italian Hours and Other Stories 48
"My Grandmother, A Chicken, and Death," from Too Much of a Good Thing Is Wonderful 55
"My Life in Funeral Parlors," from Joy Shtick: Or What Is the Existential Vacuum and Does It Come with Attachments? 57
From Claiming a Tradition: Italian American Women Writers 60
"Story of My Weight," from Pray for Yourself and Other Stories 67
"Careless Love: How Women Get to Hell" 74
From "Macaronis," from Paper Napkins 75
"Grandmother," from Poems: New and Selected 82
From A Bridge of Leaves 83
"Ossi Dei Morti," from Terra Firma 86 --
"Small Acts," from Terra Firma 87
"True or False," from The Birds of Pompeii 89 --
"Useless Knowledge," from The Birds of Pompeii 89 --
"The Evil Eye," from The Collected Poems of John Ciardi 90 --
"In Place of a Curse," from The Collected Poems of John Ciardi 91 --
"On Flunking a Nice Boy out of School," from The Collected Poems of John Ciardi 92 --
"Statement," from The Collected Poems of John Ciardi 92
"Lifelines," from Mother Rocket 93
"Youthful Religious Experiences," from Herald of the Autochthonic Spirit 103
"Poverty of Language" 105 --
From Family Honor: An American Life 107
"The First Night of the Wake" 114
Lina del Tinto Demarsky --
From Leaven of the Pharisees: The Dark Side of Italian-American Life 123
"I study Italian," from First Pressing 128 --
"I stash treasures," from Italian Notebook 129
From Vertigo: A Memoir 138 --
From "Ars Longa, Vita brevis?" 142
From Christ in Concrete 153
"The Depot," from Shadows Burning 164 --
"Sabbioneta to Parma," from The Dog Star 165
From Recollections of My Life as a Woman 166
From The Brotherhood of the Grape 172 --
"Hail Mary," from Dago Red 175 --
From Wait Until Spring, Bandini 178
"The Old Italians Dying," from These Are My Rivers 190
From The Family of Max Desir 193
Camille Lavieri Forman --
From A Perfect Time for Butterflies 198
From Tree of Dark Reflection 199
From Blood of My Blood: The Dilemma of the Italian-Americans 208
From The Italian-American Writer: An Essay and an Annotated Checklist 221
"The Tidal Wave," from Kissing the Bread: New and Selected Poems, 1969-1999 228 --
"Mafioso," from Kissing the Bread 229 --
"Tailors," from Kissing the Bread 230
Maria Mazziotti Gillan --
"Opening the Door: 19th Street, Paterson," from Things My Mother Told Me 231 --
"Secrets," from Things My Mother Told Me 231
"Cleared Away," from The Gods of Winter 233 --
"Money," from The Gods of Winter 233 --
"Planting a Sequoia," from The Gods of Winter 234
"For Grandma Lucia La Rosa, 'Light the Rose,'" from Word Wounds and Water Flowers 235 --
"American Sonnets for My Father," from Word Wounds and Water Flowers 237 --
"Woman with Tongue Sculpted in Cheek," from Eggs in the Lake 238
"Anniversary I," from The Collected Poems of Arturo Giovannitti 240
"Litania for My Mother's Hands" 240
From "MANAYUNK: Growing Up in Philadelphia During and After the War" 242
Barbara Grizzuti Harrison --
"Godfather II: Of Families and Families," from Off Center 255 --
From An Accidental Autobiography 260
Josephine Gattuso Hendin --
"Who Will Marry You Now?" 265
"The Discourse of un' Propria Paparone" 282
From The Paper Dragon 286 --
From The Blackboard Jungle 296 --
From Ulysses in Traction 301
From The Grand Gennaro 333
"Wear It in Good Health," from The Boys of Bensonhurst 337 --
"First Cousins," from Teaching Angels to Fly 347
From "Words," from Were You Always an Italian? Ancestors and Other Icons of Italian America 353
From Leading with My Chin 358
From "Sitdown at the Heartland Hotel," from Lucchesi and the Whale 361
Jerre Mangione, Ben Morreale --
From La Storia: Five Centuries of the Italian American Experience 374
"Your Children Are Your Children, but Your Wife Is Just a Good Cigar" 375
"Duet," from The Great Wheel 382 --
"Show & Tell," from Salvage Operations 383 --
"The Old Men Are Dying," from Salvage Operations 385
"The Lion's Head," from The Art Lover 387 --
"Friend," from The Art Lover 388
Christine Palamidessi Moore --
From "The Virgin's Nose" (or Picking Up a Piece of the Pieta), from The Virgin Knows 390
From The Loss of the Miraculous 398
From We Ride a White Donkey 399 --
From Viva Madison Avenue! 409
From Dances with Luigi: A Grandson's Determined Quest to Comprehend Italy and the Italians 414
"The Shylock's Wedding," from Italian Stories 417
"Grandmother in Heaven," from Town Life 428 --
"1913," from Anthracite Country 428 --
"The Miner's Wake," from Anthracite Country 429 --
"Ida Parini (1890-1976)," from House of Days 430 --
From The Apprentice Lover 431
"Someday I Will Read 'Dover Beach,'" from Ciao, Baby 435 --
"Perfect Love," from Daughters for Sale 436
From "The Movies," from Growing Up Sicilian and Female 436
"Canticle from the Book of Bob" 441 --
"Lost Innocence of the Potato Givers," from The Body Mutinies 442 --
"Long Time Too Long," from The Oldest Map with the Name America: New and Selected Poems 443
From The Godfather 444 --
From The Fortunate Pilgrim 460
"Dedicated to an Old Friend Whose Kindness I Shall Never Forget" 469
From Benedetta in Guysterland: A Liquid Novel 471
From Everything and a Kite 477
"Video Blues," from A Kiss in Space: Poems 486
From "Ravioli and Rage" 486
From Huddle Fever: Living in the Immigrant City 492
"How to Marry an Italian-American Man" 496
"The Veteran," from The Dance at St. Gabriel's 498
From Like Lesser Gods 513
"Failed Fathers," from The Shifting Web 514
"The Widows," from Conversation with Johnny 515 --
"Song of the Castrato," from Conversation with Johnny 516
L. D. Ventura, S. Shevitch --
From Misfits and Remnants 518
From A Cup of the Sun 524.
