Welcome to my website. I am the author of several books, including the memoir The Other Side, the novel Cutter's Island, and a recently published collection of short stories called Lost hearts. From here you can navigate to my books, bio, contact information, and a brief description of my writing life. You may also read reviews and print excerpts, listen to an audio excerpt from Lost Hearts, and watch a video of my reading a story from Lost Hearts called "Chicken Feet." Under News and Events you may listen to recent radio interviews from Brattleboro Community Radio (WVEW), Vermont Public Radio's Weekend Edition, and Boston's Callie Crossley Show on WGBH radio.
- Vincent, August 2011
A memoir subtitled Growing Up Italian in America. The Other Side, with photographs by Susan Sichel, is a portrait of three generations of an immigrant family written from the perspective of one who bridged the two opposing cultures, worldly American and traditional Italian.
This is a revenge tale based on a little known event in the life of Julius Caesar. When he was twenty five, Caesar was captured by pirates and held on an island for forty days. The story of Caesar's liberation and revenge is briefly summarized by historians, but Cutter's Island is a retelling in Caesar's voice and in the context of his world.
The twenty-three stories in Lost Hearts comprise a rich and candid account of growing up and growing old in Sicily and America. The stories may be read separately, but they are also linked. Original Sin, the opening story set in rural Sicily in 1900, pushes a father-son conflict to its tragic conclusion. The protagonist, Peter Marino, emigrates to America, where his descendants — and especially his grandson, Charlie — experience the conflicts, hopes, and needs that add up to the human condition.
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