An Italian-American Writer & Poet with a Yankee Outsider Perspective
During July 4th, our national day of celebration, it was good to remember what principles guided the nation over the years. Plus, with Minnesota government shut down, it’s also salutary to consider human limitations and what we need most from … Continued
In Italian “corpo” suggests the human body and a body of work; so in English we overlap the same ideas. Our bodies give birth to our work. The best poetry tilts the mind toward the body’s corporeality. In Florence, recently, … Continued
As our government process gets messier and looser and more unpredictable, I’ve been considering the messiness of fiction. Poetry, back in the ages, had the rhythm of oral declamation, almost like singing. Each line or “period” was shaped by the … Continued
Minnesota state government will shut down July 1st if there is no budget passed by the Republican legislature and accepted by the Democratic governor. Need I repeat, this peril has been looming for months, made more acute by the need … Continued
Three or four time during my years of visiting Florence/Firenze, I’ve been driven by friends out of the city. There are places unreachable by train, bicycle, or easy autobus. The restaurant called Bibe’s is one of them. In the direction … Continued
When my grandfather, Giovanni Battista Fortunato, entered the United States in 1900, he probably came through Ellis Island in New York. I imagine he spoke enough English to insist that the official inscribe his correct name on the ledger. Also, … Continued
One of the beauties of the elegant French novel with a hedgehog in its title is its subdued but often hilarious and biting satire of a wealthy French family. This family could be American. Perhaps that’s one reason Muriel Barbery’s … Continued
In our press lately, we’re being treated to a furor over Sarah Palin’s gaffe about Paul Revere–did he or didn’t he alert the British that the Americans were coming? Or was it more as you and I learned in school, … Continued
I’ve been reading James Carroll’s 1996 memoir An American Requiem: God, My Father and the War that Came Between Us. The phrase, “a child-changed father,” comes toward the end of the book, after Carroll’s three-star general father (also a lawyer) … Continued
Julia after Lennon’s song – Teenage Cat Mom This is Julia. Black and White. Came to us from Pet Smart when they still had a store in the Midway. Third cat of three. Smallest. Eating more. Rounder. Kitler, so we … Continued