Description: "New York, 1987: In a city torn apart by racial tension, Damien Cavalieri is an adolescent without a tribe. His mother-who pines for the 1950s Brooklyn Italian community she grew up in-fears he lacks commitment to his heritage. Damien's fellow Staten Islanders agree, dubbing him a "fake Italian" and bullying him for being artistic. Complicating matters, his efforts to make friends and date girls outside of the Italian community are thwarted time and again by circumstances beyond his control. When a tragic accident shakes Damien to his core, he begins a journey of self-discovery that will lead him to Italy, where he will learn, once and for all, who he really is"--
Brief description: Marc DiPaolo has written three nonfiction books: "Fire and Snow: Climate Fiction from the Inklings to Game of Thrones" (2018), "War, Politics and Superheroes" (2011), and "Emma Adapted: Jane Austen's Heroine from Book to Film" (2007). He has appeared in the documentaries "Robert Kirkman's Secret History of Comics" (2017) and "Geek, and You Shall Find" (2019), and is Associate Professor of English at Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
Review Quotes:
Fake Italian is an engaging and very well-written reflection on coming of age as an Italian-American male intellectual.
Michelle Tokarczyk, The Journal of Working-Class Studies
[DiPaolo's] writing voice is engaging, often witty, and always readable . . . He takes pride in his learning, in his pop culture obsessions, even in his chess playing. He out-thinks his rivals in the playground, and intellectually spars with his parents. In fact, this boy's relationship with his parents is one of the most creative and intelligent I've ever read.
Jerry Waxler, Memoir Magazine