Italian singer Lili N makes an immediate name for herself in ‘4u’
The best part about discovering new artists is the backstory. Or in many cases, the lack thereof. Italian electronic pop singer and current Berklee College of Music student LILI N certainly has an intriguing storyline, and an impressive one for her 20 years of age, but much of it has yet to cross over the Atlantic. That's not a bad thing, because i...
Artie Lange talks drugs, suicide, Springsteen & more
Artie Lange has experienced it all — fame, fortune, drug addiction and two suicide attempts. When you break it down, though, he's just a regular Italian guy from with a very colorful past — and a beautiful bayfront mansion. Lange, who grew up in New Jersey before moving to Los Angeles, struck gold with a gig on "The Howard Stern Show"...
Simone Cinotto, editor Making Italian America. Consumer Culture and the Production of Ethnic Identities
by Stephen Fielding Most people would agree that Italian Americans have a style all their own. Simone Cinotto's edited volume of fourteen essays puts this distinctive relationship with consumption into historical perspective. Making Italian America is not the first study of racial or ethnic consumption practices, but it stands out as an am...
Italian a day: Abbey D'Agostino
by NIAF Yesterday marked the end of the 2016 Summer Olympics, and we have enjoyed cheering on our American and Italian athletes and teams. So today, our #ItalianADay recognizes a young Italian American athlete who competed this year: Abbey D'Agostino is an Italian American middle and long-distance runner. Born in 1992 in Tops...
Searching for Authenticity: Mario Batali
I'm waiting for Mario Batali at the bar at Otto Enoteca e Pizzeria—the more family friendly and casual of his restaurants. The bartender, Dennis, a bearded man with a shaved head and reading glasses, is accommodating without being effusive as he serves me a caffe macchiato. It's two p.m. on a Monday; the restaurant is quiet and the wait st...
Way Down South in the Land of Cotton: Italian Immigrants in the Southern Delta
By Paula Reynolds Endless row upon row of cotton fields, shimmery white as far as the eye can see. A frosty glass of Southern sweet tea offers companionship to a plate of piping hot fried chicken. The wail of an old blues tune lifts mournfully through the window of a dusty juke joint. Images, sights, and sounds that certainly conjure up a...
Coming to America - Pasquini
With an unbridled determination and little grasp of the English language, the equivalent of a fourth-grade education and $30, three Pasquini brothers — Domenico, Antonio and Ludwig, all in their teens — left their native Sassoferrato, Italy, in 1917 to discover a better way of life: The American Dream in a land of opportunity. Their voyage...
Peloton warms to idea of bringing Giro to U.S.
by Andrew Hood Last month, when Giro d'Italia boss Mauro Vegni hinted that a possible North American start to the corsa rosa could still be in the works, the news was met with surprisingly positive feedback from within the peloton. Despite the long distance — about an eight-hour flight from the East Coast to Milano — many ins...
Elena Ferrante’s writing is better in English than Italian
by Annalisa Merelli Sorry, New York Times Sunday Book Review, Elena Ferrante is not "one of the great novelists of our time." Zadie Smith, Arundhati Roy, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie—these are all great novelists. Ferrante is not, which is unfortunate, because she has a good story to tell. About a month ago, while I was back in my hometo...
How to fake a US presidential campaign
An Italian novelist who's been leading a double life as a US presidential candidate is coming out, admitting he's a fake - but he says he'll keep his bogus campaign website and Twitter feed going because he's got so many American fans. For the past eight months Alessandro Nardone has been posing online as Alex Anderson, a telegenic California cong...
PN Wood Fired Pizza Highlights Dough Made from a Variety of Flours
PN Wood Fired Pizza is a new concept—a restaurant where guests can choose the type of flour used to make the crust on your pizza—as well as enjoy a full spectrum of authentic Italian cuisine. PN Managing Partner Giacomo Baldi is a man with a mission: to improve the quality and flavor of the flour (and hence, the pizza) we consume. As CEO o...
Italian American Culture – The Art of the Italian Crooner
Crooner is an epithet given to a male singer of a certain style of popular songs. The singer is normally backed by a full orchestra or big band. Crooning is a style that has its roots in the Bel Canto of Italian opera, but with the emphasis on subtle vocal nuances and phrasing found in jazz as opposed to elaborate drama and acoustic volume...