num_pages: 220
description: "One of the best books about the immigrant experience in America....unique and gracefully written."― San Francisco Chronicle Maria Laurino sifts through the stereotypes bedeviling Italian Americans to deliver a penetrating and hilarious examination of third-generation ethnic identity. With "intelligence and honesty" ( Arizona Republic ), she writes about guidos, bimbettes, and mammoni (mama's boys in Italy); examines the clashing aesthetics of Giorgio Armani and Gianni Versace; and unravels the etymology of southern Italian dialect words like gavone and bubidabetz . According to Frances Mayes, she navigates the conflicting forces of ethnicity "with humor and wisdom."
language: English
title: Were You Always an Italian?: Ancestors and Other Icons of Italian America
titlecomplete: Were You Always an Italian?: Ancestors and Other Icons of Italian America
genres: Cultural, Italy, Memoir, Nonfiction, Italian Literature, History
ratings_count: 134
publisher: W. W. Norton & Company