Biography
I am an author, journalist and critic whose work has
appeared in books, magazines, newspapers, journals, and
websites. My book,
An Offer We Can't Refuse: The Mafia in the Mind
of America (Faber and Faber, 2006; paperback,
2007) explores some of my longstanding
concerns as a writer: cultural mythologies and
their social impact; ethnic identity and
stereotypes; popular culture, especially film, and
how such social categories as race, class, sexuality
and gender interact in American society.
As an Italian American, I have a personal interest
in these topics. I've enjoyed gangster movies and TV
shows, as well as novels such as "The Godfather."
But I always wondered why these images of Italian
Americans -- as hoodlums or similarly, as boorish,
uneducated proles -- were virtually the only images
in popular culture of people of my background.
I also wanted to explore some related questions.
Does the fact that so many non-Italians associate us
with organized crime necessarily mean they are
prejudiced against Italians? How are stereotypes of
Italians as mafiosi like, and not like, other racial
and ethnic stereotypes? What do the better entries
in the mob genre -- the "Godfather" films, "Goodfellas"
and "The Sopranos" have to say about American
society, not just Italians? And why are so many
people so fascinated with Italian and Italian
American organized crime stories?
And speaking of that dearly departed HBO show...in
May 2008 I was one of a bunch of Sopranos-crazed
scholars, journalists, and even law enforcement
types, from the US, Canada, Australia, the UK,
France and Italy, who yakked about David Chase's
creation at "The Sopranos: A Wake," a four-day
conference in NYC. My presentation, "A 'Finook in
the Crew: Vito Spatafore, The Sopranos, and the
Queering of the Mob Genre," will be included in a
forthcoming anthology.
You also can catch me in the documentary
"Beyond Wiseguys: Italian Americans & The Movies,"
produced by
Pacific
Street Films & Beachcomber Films; Executive
Producer: John Turturro. The film premiered on New
York PBS (Channel 13) in March 2008 and has since
been shown on PBS in all the major cities. It's also
been well-received at festivals and other screenings
across the country. You can order it from Pacific
Street Films at the link above.
Since the release of “Offer,” I’ve
presented my work at various conferences, here in
the U.S. and abroad. In April 2008 I gave a
multimedia presentation titled “21st
Century W.O.P.s: Roy Paci, Raiz, and the Cultural
Politics of Migration,” at the Experience Music
Project Pop Conference in Seattle. You can check it
out in the "Articles" section of this site.
As a journalist, I also have written about the AIDS
pandemic, Latin American literature, Afro-Cuban,
African, and other "ethnic" musics, and jazz. You
can read some of my music reviews and essays here
and at Cliff
Furnald's great site, Rootsworld.com and at
Joe Sciorra's site italianrap.com. I've also
written about American society's conflicted
relationship with gay culture, Italian culture and
politics, and many other topics. I'm currently a
blogger and feature writer at I-Italy, an exciting
new online venture that combines journalism and
social networking.
In 2007, I had the great pleasure
of attending and speaking at the
43rd
Festival of International Cinema, in Pesaro, Italy.
I gave a paper about sexuality, ethnicity and race
in three films -- "A Bronx Tale," "Two Family House"
and "Nunzio's Second Cousin." It was published
in Italian for a collection called I Bravi
Ragazzi, which is a play on Goodfellas.
The book will be published in English in 2009.
Later that year I presented a paper, " 'A Burning
Hatred for the Ruling Class' - Frank Barbaro's
Radical Life" at the
American Italian
Historical Association conference in Denver,
CO. Barbaro, a former New York state legislator and
judge from Brooklyn, is one of the few remaining
links to the tradition of Italian American working
class radicalism.
Politics, culture and the arts (especially music,
film and theatre), peace and social justice
activism, social theory, travel, cuisine (especially
cucina italiana) -- these are my passions.
And writing, of course!
And as of this writing (September '08) it looks like
my next book will be all about cucina....
