Thursday, October 22nd, 6:30 P.M. - Italian American Museum - 155 Mulberry Street (Corner of Grand and Mulberry Streets) - New York, NY 10013

Please join Stonewall Honor Award winner, Tom Mendicino, to discuss his new suspense novel with novelist and creative writing professor Philip Cioffari at the Italian American Museum on Thursday, October 22nd.

In The Boys from Eighth and Carpenter, Tom Mendicino moves seamlessly between 1970's Philadelphia, the old neighborhood, immigrant Italians building their lives in a changing city, and the Philadelphia of 2008, as the election amps up, the city is experiencing one of its biggest eras of change. The old neighborhood is gentrifying and diversifying and as these communities collide the Gagliano home becomes the scene of a horrific crime.

About the Book:

The Boys From Eighth and Carpenter follows the Gagliano brothers from inseparable children to vastly different yet indelibly linked middle-aged men. As they change, for better and worse over the decades, Philadelphia and the old neighborhood does the same. The novel focuses on both brotherhood and the culture of 1960s Italian Philadelphia. The boys face hardship and discrimination because of who they are and where they're from. But the book also celebrates their heritage and the almost primal link they have to the culture and place they grew up in.

Each brother takes these hardships and makes something vastly different of their lives and as time passes the family grows apart in many ways. Philadelphia is also changing dramatically and Frankie is the only sibling who remains in the family home caring for his aging father. While Michael goes to Princeton, becomes a lawyer, and marries into money, Frankie takes over their father's barbershop and tries to remain in a neighborhood that is gentrifying but also becoming incredibly diverse. When Frankie gets involved with the wrong person, the Gagliano home becomes the scene of a crime and Michael needs to find a way to save his brother without jeopardizing his hard won position in the world.

About the Author:

Tom Mendicino is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of North Carolina School of Law. His debut novel, Probation (Kensington), was named a 2011 American Library Association Stonewall Honor Book and was a Lambda Literary Award finalist. He is a practicing lawyer and lives in Philadelphia.

Suggested donation of $10 per person - RSVP Code: Carpenter1022

For reservations, please call the Italian American Museum at 212.965.9000 or email: [email protected]