An Ethnic at Large - by Jerre Mangione (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

This work begins with a boy named Geraldo growing up Sicilian in Rochester, New York, and ends with the author breakfasting with Eleanor Roosevelt in the White House. It is a portrait of what it was like to come of age in the 1930s and 1940s.

Review Quotes

An Ethnic at Large begins with a boy named Geraldo growing up Sicilian in Rochester, New York, and ends with the author breakfasting with Eleanor Roosevelt in the White House. . . . [The book] is an effective portrait of what it
was like to come of age in the 1930s and 1940s. . . . Finally, the book is a touching revelation of the author himself.

-- "New York Times"

Primarily an autobiography of one young man's coming to terms with his ethnicity, it's a becoming-a-writer story and a survival story as well. . . . By the end of the book, I felt I had come to know a real person and I was impressed by his haunting, moving story. Mangione was invited to the White House. 'Why' asked his uncle Peppino, 'would the head of the richest nation want to sit down with a young man who earns less than I do as a bricklayer?' Read Mangione's book and you'll understand.-- "Los Angeles Times"

About the Author

Jerre Manigione was professor emeritus of English at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of ten books, including The Dream and the Deal: The Federal Writers' Project, 1935-1943 and Mount Allegro: A Memoir of Italian American Life, both reprinted by Syracuse University Press.