Reviews for From Sicily to Elizabeth Street

The average rating for From Sicily to Elizabeth Street based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2021-02-15 00:00:00 Thomas Morrison Donna Gabaccia presents a dual examination of the peasant experience in the Sicilian agrotown of Sambuca and the immigrant experience in the New York City tenements of Elizabeth Street to highlight the continuities and changes endemic in the immigrant experience and the formation of cultural identities and shared experiences. Easily readable and expertly assembled to examine the facets of Sicilian peasantry and Italian-American immigrants--and their not altogether different worldviews.

Review # 2 was written on 2008-12-16 00:00:00 Bradley S Moose In general people know two things about Sicily - both of them alarming: Etna and the Mafia. Ahh, yes, but thankfully this book taught me so much more about the island few know. It is in Sicily where Zeus trapped Typhon the monster, and they say you can still hear his rage whenever Mount Etna lets loose. Conquered by every Tom, Dick, and Harry through the ages, Sicily has maintained its own identity, albeit one heavily influenced by Mafioso lore. But when Daphne Phelps had to take over the gorgeous villa her uncle had built, she found a dry, poverty-stricken place filled with myths and superstition. It is her remembrances of her famous house and equally famous guests that make this book a winner. Each chapter focuses on a specific person or event and they really seemed to build to the best passages as the end came near. Caitlin Thomas and Bertrand Russell roll through, but the best is saved for Henry Faulkner and his menagerie of cats, dogs, goats, and ducks. Wherever had these three (Tennessee Williams-Ezra Pound-Henry Faulkner) met? Could it have been in a mental hospital? It seemed likely. Phelps writes in a dry style and her adventures with the local authorities are enlightening. When she travels to Kentucky to visit Faulkner, for instance, she discovers the mountain dialect and states that Shakespeare would have felt at home, given the language had not been altered in centuries. The chapter on a poor local Sicilian widow brought tears to my eyes, just as the chapter on a theatrical butler made me laugh. I didn't want to finish the book, because I was enjoying it so much. As Sicily gets dragged into shopping malls and fast trains, much of what Phelps loved has disappeared, so the pages provide images of past simpler days. This isn't a travelogue or one of those snappy selfies about look-where-I-am-now. It's a story of a house, an uncle, and a loyal niece who stayed. Casa Cuseni is now a B&B, with that stunning view of Mount Etna. As a child, when I hated the world and felt that the world hated me, it was my dog in whom I confided - and he told me I was unique and wonderful. Book Season = Summer (reds and yellows and oranges)