East Liberty

A Novel

Fiction & Literature, Literary
Cover of the book East Liberty by Joseph Bathanti, University of South Carolina Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Joseph Bathanti ISBN: 9781611176438
Publisher: University of South Carolina Press Publication: April 30, 2016
Imprint: University of South Carolina Press Language: English
Author: Joseph Bathanti
ISBN: 9781611176438
Publisher: University of South Carolina Press
Publication: April 30, 2016
Imprint: University of South Carolina Press
Language: English

East Liberty is a poetic, passionate coming-of-age novel spanning 1955 to 1963, set in an Italian-American neighborhood in Pittsburgh. Roberto (Bobby) Renzo, the novel’s fatherless narrator and main character, lives with Francene Renzo, his beautiful, mysterious, and unconventional mother who gave birth to him out of wedlock. Together the two habitually watch vintage Hollywood movies on TV. Orbiting Bobby and Francene are the Catholic Church; Francene’s gothic, judgmental, Neapolitan parents; and the dramatically shifting culture at large hurtling toward them. While urged by the nuns at his school to pursue the priesthood — though his dream is to be a big-league baseball player — Bobby is drawn toward the temptations of the secular world, and finds himself involved in petty crimes and seduced by his awakening sexuality. As he emerges from his childhood cloud of innocence, his desire to know about his father becomes acute, and he is forced to confront the confusion and contradictions that rule his life. First published in hardcover in 2001, East Liberty won the Carolina Novel Award and was named a finalist for Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year Award in Literary Fiction. This paperback edition features a new foreword by Fred Gardaphé, a distinguished professor of English and Italian American Studies at Queens College/CUNY and the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

East Liberty is a poetic, passionate coming-of-age novel spanning 1955 to 1963, set in an Italian-American neighborhood in Pittsburgh. Roberto (Bobby) Renzo, the novel’s fatherless narrator and main character, lives with Francene Renzo, his beautiful, mysterious, and unconventional mother who gave birth to him out of wedlock. Together the two habitually watch vintage Hollywood movies on TV. Orbiting Bobby and Francene are the Catholic Church; Francene’s gothic, judgmental, Neapolitan parents; and the dramatically shifting culture at large hurtling toward them. While urged by the nuns at his school to pursue the priesthood — though his dream is to be a big-league baseball player — Bobby is drawn toward the temptations of the secular world, and finds himself involved in petty crimes and seduced by his awakening sexuality. As he emerges from his childhood cloud of innocence, his desire to know about his father becomes acute, and he is forced to confront the confusion and contradictions that rule his life. First published in hardcover in 2001, East Liberty won the Carolina Novel Award and was named a finalist for Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year Award in Literary Fiction. This paperback edition features a new foreword by Fred Gardaphé, a distinguished professor of English and Italian American Studies at Queens College/CUNY and the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute.

More books from University of South Carolina Press

Cover of the book Fragments of the Ark by Joseph Bathanti
Cover of the book Fundamentalism by Joseph Bathanti
Cover of the book Copts in Context by Joseph Bathanti
Cover of the book Jacob Jump by Joseph Bathanti
Cover of the book Samuel and His God by Joseph Bathanti
Cover of the book New and Selected Poems by Joseph Bathanti
Cover of the book Have You Considered My Servant Job? by Joseph Bathanti
Cover of the book Rhetorics and Technologies by Joseph Bathanti
Cover of the book Ezra and the Law in History and Tradition by Joseph Bathanti
Cover of the book Protagoras and Logos by Joseph Bathanti
Cover of the book Green Revolver by Joseph Bathanti
Cover of the book Understanding Marilynne Robinson by Joseph Bathanti
Cover of the book State of the Heart by Joseph Bathanti
Cover of the book Understanding Francisco Goldman by Joseph Bathanti
Cover of the book First, You Explore by Joseph Bathanti
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy