Sicilian Lives

Sicilian Lives
Author: Danilo Dolci
Publisher: Pantheon
Total Pages: 344
Release: 1981
Genre: History
ISBN:

When Danilo Docli, peace worker, organizer, educator, first arrived in 1952 in Trappeto, a village of peasants and fishermen in western Sicily, there were no streets, just mud and dust, not a single drugstore, not even a sewer. (In fact, the local dialect didn't even have a word for sewer.) Like other Sicilians, the villagers, seen by many Italians as bandits, dirt-eaters, and savages, had, in effect, been mute for centuries. Dolci's years of work broke this silence. The result is Sicilian Lives, a book which reveals the intimate experiences and perceptions of a wide range of Sicilians, rural and urban, through voices that are sometimes frightening, but always fascinating and unexpected. Danilo Dolci has collected a rich panorama of voices--the eloquent testimony of Sicilians who, at last, are speaking out to penetrate the most profound dilemmas of an impoverished land.

The Dangerously Truthful Diary of a Sicilian Housewife

The Dangerously Truthful Diary of a Sicilian Housewife
Author: Veronica Di Grigoli
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2015-07-15
Genre: Man-woman relationships
ISBN: 9781514802250

When career-girl Veronica flies to Sicily for a friend's wedding, she accidentally falls in love with one of the groom's three-hundred cousins. A year later she has given up her job, house and friends, and is planning her own wedding with her Latin Lover in the shimmering heat of Sicily.

Midnight In Sicily

Midnight In Sicily
Author: Peter Robb
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Total Pages: 484
Release: 2014-08-05
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1466861290

A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year From the author of M and A Death in Brazil comes Midnight in Sicily. South of mainland Italy lies the island of Sicily, home to an ancient culture that--with its stark landscapes, glorious coastlines, and extraordinary treasure troves of art and archeology--has seduced travelers for centuries. But at the heart of the island's rare beauty is a network of violence and corruption that reaches into every corner of Sicilian life: Cosa Nostra, the Mafia. Peter Robb lived in southern Italy for over fourteen years and recounts its sensuous pleasures, its literature, politics, art, and crimes.

The Sicilian

The Sicilian
Author: Mario Puzo
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2004-09-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0345480740

After Mario Puzo wrote his internationally acclaimed The Godfather, he has often been imitated but never equaled. Puzo's classic novel, The Sicilian, stands as a cornerstone of his work—a lushly romantic, unforgettable tale of bloodshed, justice, and treachery. . . . The year is 1950. Michael Corleone is nearing the end of his exile in Sicily. The Godfather has commanded Michael to bring a young Sicilian bandit named Salvatore Guiliano back with him to America. But Guiliano is a man entwined in a bloody web of violence and vendettas. In Sicily, Guiliano is a modern day Robin Hood who has defied corruption—and defied the Cosa Nostra. Now, in the land of mist-shrouded mountains and ancient ruins, Michael Corleone's fate is entwined with the dangerous legend of Salvatore Guiliano: warrior, lover, and the ultimate Siciliano. Praise for The Sicilian “Puzo is a master storyteller.”—USA Today “The Balzac of the mafia.”—Time “An accomplished and imaginative writer.”—Los Angeles Times

My Sicilian Legacy

My Sicilian Legacy
Author: Richard F. Cavallaro
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Total Pages: 422
Release: 2008
Genre: History
ISBN: 143430244X

The lives of Angelo Cavallaro and Angela Gravagna are entwined in a backdrop set in the coastal areas of the Province of Catania, Sicily, and moves onto the northern hillsides of the active volcano, Mount Etna. They are traced from their early childhoods, where they lived as peasants during the reconstruction of Italy and Sicily, through their immigration to America. The journey of Angelo, Angela, and their six children begins in the tiny village of Passopisciaro and continues as they travel to Palermo in1913 to board a ship and sail across the Atlantic Ocean. You share and experience their fears as they pass through Ellis Island, and their joys of eventually arriving to their new home in Rochester, New York. In this sensitive memoir, the author attempts to do what most Italians only dream of - to piece together all the stories parents have retold their children over the generations; from their struggles and humble beginnings, to the joys they shared with their extended families in later years. In chapters that examine individual members of his family and highlights their life achievements, the reader gains a better understanding of the unique characteristics that all immigrants have in common. The memories recorded are a tribute to the legacy they left; lessons about life, responsibility, self-respect, and love of family. It is written with gratitude to all immigrants; our ancestral grandfathers and grandmothers, mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles. These were the risk-takers and pioneers, who were willing to sacrifice personal comfort in order to provide a better life for their families in an unknown world. A narrative that honors our link to the past through the memories they left behind, My Sicilian Legacy is a chronicle focusing on the importance of family life and the pride in maintaining ethnic roots. It is a description of how the ordinary events that shape and mold character, thinking, aspirations, and joys can be achieved through hard work and perseverance - the early immigrants gave of themselves so their children would attain a better lifestyle. Richard Cavallaro traces his own ancestral history to this area of Sicily and paints a vivid picture of the events that occurred through three generations, which eventually led to the creation of My Sicilian Legacy; a tribute that many Italians and Sicilians will share with pride.

Sicilian Splendors

Sicilian Splendors
Author: John Keahey
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Total Pages: 263
Release: 2018-11-13
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 125010470X

"A wondrously joyous account of travel as it should be." –Publishers Weekly A travel narrative that focuses on Sicily's little-known regions, from the author of Seeking Sicily and Hidden Tuscany. From Palermo to Castiglione di Sicilia to Alimena, Sicily holds great secrets from the past and unspoken promises. Tradition, in the form of festivals, the written word, photographs, and song, reverberates through village walls. Now, slowly shaking itself free of the Mafia, Sicily is opening itself up to visitors in ways it never has before. Sicilian Splendors explores the history, politics, food, Mafia, and people which John Keahey encounters throughout his travels during his return to Sicily. Through conversing with natives and immersing himself in culture, Keahey illustrates a brand new Sicily no one has ever talked about before. Villagers, eager to welcome tourism and impart awareness of their cultural background, greet Keahey for meals and drink and walk him through their winding streets. They share stories of well-known writers, such as Maria Messina, who have found inspiration in Sicily’s villages. Keahey’s never-ending curiosity as a traveler shines light on Sicily’s mythical mysteries and portrays the island not only through his eyes but also through Sicily’s heart. This picturesque travel memoir navigates Sicily today and seeks to understand Sicily’s past. In lyrical prose and vivid dialect, Keahey paints images of the island’s villages, people, and culture with careful strokes and a meticulously even hand. Keahey not only serves as a guide through the marvel of Sicily’s identity, but he also looks deeply into Sicily’s soul.

Sicilian Carousel

Sicilian Carousel
Author: Lawrence Durrell
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 195
Release: 2012-06-12
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1453261664

A moving account of friendship and discovery on the island of Sicily from the acclaimed travel writer and bestselling author of The Alexandria Quartet. Despite decades spent writing poetic evocations of the timeless pleasures of life in the Mediterranean, Lawrence Durrell had never set foot on the sea’s largest island: mysterious, impenetrable Sicily. For years his friend Martine begged him to visit her on this sun-kissed paradise, and though he always intended to, life inevitably interfered. It took Martine’s sudden death to finally bring him to the island’s shores. With Martine’s letters in his pocket, Durrell signs up for a tour group, hoping to learn the travel habits of those who aren’t obsessively devoted to island life. As he treks from sight to sight, dizzy with history and culture, Durrell finds echoes of his past lives in Rhodes, Cyprus, and Corfu.

Sicilian Roots

Sicilian Roots
Author: Sally Veillette
Publisher:
Total Pages: 154
Release: 2018-08-17
Genre:
ISBN: 9781976547089

A beautiful book for anyone interested in learning about and enjoying the history of Sicily.Sicily's rich history comes alive in this illustrated guide, sponsored by the "Associazione Hands-On Sicily," written for people who want to learn more about the largest island in the Mediterranean. Learn about the thirteen cultures who have dominated Sicily over its 5,000-year history. Relive the island's Golden Ages and tumultuous periods. Marvel at its innovations. Cry at its defeats. See which leaders were far ahead of their time--uniting the diverse island populations. Discover which invaders brought new ingredients to Sicilian cuisine. Be surprised to learn that pasta was originally a dish for the rich! Find out why tomatoes were once considered poisonous... and how Italians were the first to enjoy cooking with them. Learn when the first pizza was made (and for whom). Sicily is an amazing island with a history that is guaranteed to fascinate people of all ages. :-)

Sicilian Odyssey

Sicilian Odyssey
Author: Francine Prose
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 171
Release: 2011-06-15
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1426209088

A blending of art and cultural criticism, travel writing, and personal narrative, Sicilian Odyssey is Francine Prose's imaginative consideration of the diverse cultural legacies found juxtaposed and entangled on the Mediterranean island of Sicily. She writes of the intensity of Sicily, the "commitment to the extreme," where the history is more colorful, the sun hotter, the cooking earthier, the violence more horrific, the carnival more raucous, the politics more Byzantine than other places on Earth, and how much the island can teach us about the triumph of beauty over violence and life over death. Prose examines architectural sites and objects and looks at the ways in which myth and actuality converge. Exploring the intact and beautiful Greek amphitheaters at Siracusa and Taormina, the cathedral at Monreale, the Roman mosaics at Piazza Armerina, and some of the masterpieces of the Baroque scattered throughout the island, Prose focuses her keen insight to imagine them in their own time, to examine the evolution and decline of the cultures that produced them, and to deconstruct powerful responses each evokes in her.