Review: As satisfying as Nona's manicotti.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 11, 2014
This entirely fun-to-read book will capture the reader with a light-hearted storyline and characters beautifully conceived and captured. The description on Amazon suggests that what we have here is a book about the New York Mafia, maybe somewhat in a humorous direction. But if you think that what you're going to get here is a current day "Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight", think again. Better yet, fuggedaboudit.What we've got here is the charming story of Anthony Bartolicotti, a Brooklyn-born and raised Italian-American whose goal in life is to become a professional meteorologist and TV weather forecaster. The fact that his hard-working, big-hearted father is sort of distantly related to a "made guy" in the mob helps Tony to go to college with a part-time job set up by the mob-connected distant relative.What this wonderfully crafted book does is to explore family relationships - both "family" (in the sense of mother/father/kids) and "family" (in the sense of Mafia family). It also looks at how society handles concepts like ethnic discrimination.What makes this such a terrific read is that there's plenty of serious stuff to read at the same time as there are laugh out loud moments when the interplay of the characters is so comedically delivered.The author, Nick Rollins, is from Miami and you can be sure the influence of Carl Hiassen and Elmore Leonard plays a major part in his writing.The part that the mob (or mafia, or "our thing," or the family) plays in this book is pretty significant. It's the underlying theme that runs from beginning to end. But unlike so many books about the mob, the violence here is pretty tame. There are a few people whose places in the book get cut short, but not graphically so. All of that is much appreciated since it would take away from the very human characteristics of the players in the story. As might be expected, there is a very strong sense of family in this book, but the family parts are really about family, not THE FAMILY, if you know what I mean.Do yourself a favor and get this book to read over a weekend. If you're like me, it will be one of the best weekends you'll remember for a long time. This is a keeper to be read again and again - just like all of those special books that make up what we call "our library." Enjoy.