A tribute to the Italian American family and its trying bonds of love.

Joanna Clapps Herman teaches creative writing in the MAW program at Manhattanville College and at the Center for Worker Education, a division of City College of New York. She is the coeditor (with Carol Bonomo Albright) of Wild Dreams: The Best of Italian Americana and (with Lee Gutkind) of Our Roots Are Deep with Passion: Creative Nonfiction Collects New Essays by Italian-American Writers. She lives in New York City.