Susan DAngelo Mannino - An Italian American Story Home Page

by Susan D'Angelo Mannino

A Memoir

An Italian American Story

An Italian American Story is Susan D'Angelo Mannino's powerfully poignant memoir of her family and the slow decline of its beloved patriarch. Starting before her own lifetime in war torn Sicily, the author has us meet two young soldiers and two strong Sicilian women who will later become her grandparents. Then moving through decades, she weaves together her youth in Queens where the author grew up in an intensely close knit network of relatives and friends.

The memoir is a celebration of the Italian American experience from the daughter of immigrants. The youngest of five siblings and her parents' only Americana. It is a declaration of the love and pride Ms. Mannino feels for her family, her culture, and her heritage. Just as she writes on page 3 of the book…

"That is the thing about my generation. We are glad to be in America but never compromise our loyalty to being Italian."

An Italian American Story is for every generation of Italian Americans.

Truly a work of the heart, the author entertains us with cherished stories of her big and beautiful Italian family. Ms. Mannino reflects on the love and affection of her hard working mother. She makes us laugh with the heart warming anecdotes of her strict Sicilian father, and the challenge of being his teenage daughter! She writes about the beloved Sunday dinners that we all remember and cherish. The memoir has a voice of its own, that echoes the heart of its author, Susan D'Angelo Mannino.