Joseph Di Prisco: 7 books

Joseph Di Prisco’s latest memoir brings back to life the hustler, gambler, criminal, bookmaker, and confidential informer who was his father. On the street they called him Pope, and he made his bones in Brooklyn during the ’50s and ’60s. Di Prisco discovered by accident fifty-year-old transcripts...

Sightlines from the Cheap Seats is the latest book of extraordinary poetry by prize-winning poet Joseph Di Prisco. Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Carl Dennis has praised Di Prisco’s “strong and original voice.” Dean Young, Pulitzer Prize finalist, wrote that “addressing unquenchable longing and...

In 1961, the Di Priscos fled Brooklyn-and the FBI. The father was a gambler and bookmaker, and agents chased him into the Long Island woods because he was implicated in police corruption. At thirty-five he escaped to a strange place called California, where his wife and two of her four sons joined...

Mikey is history. He’s got what he calls the Alzhammer. A once-powerful mob boss, he is seriously slipping-losing control of his crew and of his mind. His business is sideways, his rivals are coming for him, he’s crazy forgetful, and it is a fact his parents suffered miserably with Alzheimer's....

Brother Stephen dies suddenly. That’s when things get complicated. Is Stephen’s death his wake-up call? This possibility slowly dawns on him. Soon, though, he is behind the wheel of a Prius, driving through his afterlife, listening to himself being interviewed on NPR. “It’s just like high school,...

Coverage in the Contra Costa Times Events all over the Bay Area and in Brooklyn Appearance at the Bay Area Book Festival Promotion to local media Promotion to online lit mags like Lit Hub and The Nervous Breakdown

Integrity is not simply something that happens as a result of family stability, unconditional love, healthy genes, or good luck; it emerges, if it does, because parents make it important and because they choose to exercise influence in this arena. Combining stories of children in their natural settings...