Theresa Maggio

November 4, 2011

Travel light! Pack the eBook.


Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Maggio opens her tale with a memory of sitting under her grandparents' grape arbor in Carldstadt, New Jersey, wondering if their memories of Sicily were hard-wired into her consciousness. These essays, written over many visits, illuminate tiny Sicilian towns with glorious names: Polizzi Generosa (Martin Scorsese's father was born there); Catania, where men celebrate the feast of Sant'Agata, who was martyred by having her breasts cut off; Sperlinga, where generations have lived in apartments cut in caves that Maggio compares to hobbit-holes. Maggio writes pristine prose unsullied by prettiness or sentimentality. She finds a number of women unencumbered by marriage--like the twin pharmacists, Antonietta and Rosaria--who accompany her, stay with her, or simply allow her to view their lives. She writes of the clothed, dessicated corpses in a crypt in Palermo; of watching Etna's lava flow engulf a flowering pear tree in Zafferana Etnea; and of Santa Margherita, her grandparents' town, destroyed in an earthquake in 1968. She adores Sicily, taking as her metaphor the living stone from which the island takes its building material, the taste of its water, the color of its contours. With Mary Taylor Simeti's On Persephone's Island (1994), this memoir offers an austerely voluptuous pleasure for anyone seeking the heart of Sicily. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"A compelling meditation on Sicilian culture." -- Kirkus Reviews

"A luminous portrait of a time and a place, interspersed with a wonderful cast of characters." -- Chicago Tribune

"Curious, lighthearted, and enthusiastic..." -- Publisher's Weekly

"Maggio is a compelling writer who can render even the simplest moments into sheer poetry...The Stone Boudoir is delightful." -- Los Angeles Times, 4/18/02

"Maggio's tales of Sicily's hidden villages reveal her own deep love and gentle understanding of her ancestors' homeland." -- Boston Globe, 6/16/02

"Maggio's writing is clear and straight-forward...the telling is rooted in poetry and human emotion." -- Bloomsbury Review, September/October 2002

Maggio has a wealth of knowledge to share, which she does in a lively, eminently readable style." -- Santa Fe Reporter, 6/12/02

[The Stone Boudoir] is an engaging overview of Sicilian culture...The prose is delightful." -- Washington Times, 7/1/02
See all Editorial Reviews