Paper Fish - Softcover

Rosa, Tina De

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1558611452 ISBN 13: 9781558611450

Publisher: Feminist Press at The City University of New York, 2002

Synopsis

In this magical and moving first novel, Tina De Rosa draws her reader deep into the world of an Italian-American family and community. Set on the West Side of Chicago during the 1940s and 1950s, Paper Fish is populated not by wiseguys or madonnas, but by hard-working immigrants whose heroism lies in their quiet, sometimes tragic humanity.
At the center of the novel is young Carmolina, who is torn between the bonds of the past and the pull of the future - a need for family and a yearning for independence. As Carmolina's story unfolds, it comes to contain many other narratives: memories and legends from the old country, passed on by her wise and loving grandmother Doria; the courtship tale of her father, an Italian-American policeman with a gentle heart and an artist's soul, and her mother, a lonely Lithuanian-American waitress; and the painful story of Dorina, her beautiful but silent sister.

About this title

Review

New edition of "an extraordinary novel by the Zora Neale Hurston of Italian American Culture."

"Understated, lyrical and intensely imagistic, De Rosa's tale of Italian ghetto life stands out from other immigrant narratives by virtue of its artistry." --Kirkus

"Paper Fish is a unique piece of work. Tina De Rosa renders experience from the inside, going deeper and deeper . . . as if the smells and sounds and taste of things had a life of their own." --Marilyn French, author of The Women's Room

"Out of childhood memories, family lore, and an intimate knowledge of Chicago's West Side Italian community, Paper Fish creates a world of radiant particularities--bent hands at domestic work; the feel of rough wool and old palms against a child's face; city noises, cooking smells, and kitchen sounds. This is a world that urban renewal and acculturation intended to sweep away; it is reclaimed in De Rosa's wonderfully focused, tactile prose." --Michael Anania, author of The Red Menace

"Gorgeous writing and a generosity of spirit--a gift of love." --Rona Jaffe, author of The Best of Everything

"A novel of daring and intense imagery crafted out of the harsh rhythms of Italian immigrant life. De Rosa's lyricism is not a sweetly coated nostalgia. She holds this remembered world in a rough, respectful embrace." --Janet Zandy, author of Calling Home: Working-Class Women's Writings

"De Rosa paints memory pictures like haunting dreams of aching beauty. Her poetic prose evokes the ghosts of our own childhood, makes us face them, try to see, hear, smell, and touch them as sharply as she does." --Dorothy Bryant, author of Miss Giardino

"De Rosa's virtuoso performance makes Paper Fish comparable to Henry Roth's Call It Sleep. It is a major achievement by one of our foremost artists of Italian/American identity and modern culture." --Mary Jo Bona, editor of The Voices We Carry: Recent Italian/American Women Writers

Synopsis

The story of Carmolina, a young Italian American girl, her parents, grandmother, and mentally ill sister, as she comes to womanhood in Chicago's West side in the 1940s.

Edition details

• Publisher: Feminist Press at The City University of New York
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1558611452
• ISBN 13: 9781558611450
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 167