William Giovinazzo

Contributing writer

A Book Review: The Leopard by Giuseppe di Lampedusa

October 2023
For each culture, certain books are required reading. For Italians and Italian Americans, in addition to Dante’s "La Divina Comedia", there is Giuseppe di Lampedusa’s work, "The Leopard". Through their telling of history, they provide unique...


Book Review: "A Farewell to Arms"

September 2023
Questo è un riassunto del libro “Addio alle Armi” di Ernest Hemingway. Il libro è considerato "un classico" perché fu scritto più di cento anni fa. La storia racconta la relazione tra il tenente Frederick Henry e Catherine Barkley. Henry è un...


Tony Bennett

September 2023
A luglio, è morto Tony Bennett, il cantante famosissimo in tutto il mondo. Bennett, come Frank Sinatra, era un "crooner", un tipo di cantante che canta canzoni sentimentali con voce bassa e tranquilla. Bennett è nato nel 1956 a New York. Ha...


Great Italians: Giuseppe Garibaldi

June 2023
In the book “How to Be a Stoic”, Massimo Pigliucci discusses the highly inflated use of the word hero. Although many apply the term simply to someone they admire, the word hero means much more than that. As Joseph Campbell said, “a hero is someone...


Brunelleschi’s Dome

May 2023
One of the many wonderful things to do when visiting Italy is to admire the architecture, the Pantheon, Villa d’Este, Pisa’s Tower, and, of course, the Vatican. As you wander through these marvels, you cannot help but be impressed by their beauty...


Great Italians: Saint Francis of Assisi

May 2023
San Francesco d'Assisi è un santo cattolico ben noto ai cattolici. Francesco ebbe una vita difficile, povera e semplice. Nel 1202 fu prigioniero di guerra. Dopo il suo rilascio, fece diversi lavoro per donare denaro alla Chiesa. Nel 1209, con il...


Great Italians: Rita Levi-Montalcini

April 2023
This month we have just emerged from awards season, that period between November and February when all the rich and famous people congratulate one another. The Grammy Awards. The American Music Awards. The People’s Choice Awards. And, of course,...


Book Review: The Neapolitan Quartet

March 2023
“The Neapolitan Quartet” is a set of novels to which many Americans have been introduced through the HBO series, “My Brilliant Friend”. While the television series does an excellent job of capturing the essence of the books and is well worth the...


Great Italians: Dante, Poet of Love and War

March 2023
L'articolo descrive la meravigliosa vita di Dante Alighieri. Nelle sue opere Dante aveva dato il senso ad un amore puro, semplice e gentile. Ad esempio, nella sua opera La Vita Nuova, Dante descrisse un amore divino per Beatrice, la ragazza che...


Why is Italian Food So Good?

November 2022
November means Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving means food and family. In Italian families, food and family are one and the same. To be clear, I am not suggesting that Italians are cannibals. What I am saying, however, is that an essential attribute...


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