A Sitdown with the Sopranos: Watching Italian American Culture on TV's Most Talked-about Series - Tapa blanda

.,."good reads that examine Tony's character through today's standard therapeutic lenses..."--Jeremiah Creedon, "Utne Reader" "In its daring intellectuality, "A Sitdown With the Sopranos" is as gripping as the tv show itself. All of the essays are unfailingly strong and the book7;s shattering of so many dumb and hurtful conceptions about Italian Americans and their culture will alter American consciousness for good, and for the good."--Frank Lentricchia, Katherine Everett Gilbert Professor of Literature at Duke University and author of "Lucchesi and the Whale" "Look, I'm half-Italian. Tony Soprano stands in front of the opened refrigerator, dropping sheets of prosciutto into his mouth, and I love him like a brother. Then he orders someone whacked and he's about as lovable as Gotti. So I'm all over the place in my response to this show, these characters. I hunger to hear from other Italian-Americans on the subject of "The Sopranos" and I trust Barreca to deliver the goods. Why? Because she knows humor, pathos, and marinara."--Wally Lamb, author of "She7;s Come Undone" and "I Know This Much is True"

With over 9.5 million viewers and in its fourth smash season, "The Sopranos" has profoundly altered Americans' views of New Jersey, HBO, Sunday nights, and especially Italian American culture and life. The show has not been without critics, who have lambasted "The Sopranos" for presenting negative stereotypes of Italian Americans. "A Sitdown with the Sopranos" is an insightful and balanced reply to this criticism from some of the country's most important Italian American writers. Edited by Regina Barreca, an acclaimed writer, scholar, and national columnist, the book examines eight key components of Italian American life and considers how accurately the show portrays these topics.