false 3993843 1 Against a backdrop of Immigration, Prohibition, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, and the new millennium, the Verbicaro family make their way from Southern Italy to San Francisco to the Yucatan, finding ways to reinvent themselves as each of them brushes up against some aspect of the divine, or the profane. The family matriarch, Rosari, is a little girl whose family flees Italy because her prodigality is exploited by illiterate kidnappers. When she and her father reach San Francisco, she meets the man she ll marry, a handsome, fiercely strong peasant named Giuseppe Verbicaro. Rosari and Giuseppe s oldest son, Narciso, a handsome and dim-witted dandy, barely evades disaster by his simple-minded innocence and luck. His passionate brother Ludovico, a talented third-baseman in the old San Francisco minor leagues, falls prey to the illicit dreams of a wise guy from the Gambino family. Their youngest brother, Joe, a brilliant child and shrewd businessman, is ashamed of his ethnicity and, in particular, his father, in part because Giuseppe, wandering North Beach, believes that God directs him to marry a teenage, pregnant Mexican prostitute named Maria. Further senility, faith, or vermouth convinces the old man that Maria s child, Jesus, is the product of an immaculate conception. The event is both a family disgrace and a bizarre blessing. The child s life and death have a profound effect on Giuseppe s progeny, particularly Joe s children: Penelope, who flees the country following involvement in deadly anti-Vietnam War activities, and her brothers Paulie and Angelo, who are inspired by the young Jesus to embark upon a quest of several thousand miles to heal old wounds and recover the family s lost, but most-prized spiritual treasures. 4039917 28 10 2008 The Islands of Divine Music total:15|5:3|4:4|3:5|2:2|1:1| 15 51 26 6 3 0 false false Wed Dec 10 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 02 21:30:05 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 11 22:46:25 -0800 2008
Rosari learned ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Nov 23 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Oct 15 09:58:52 -0700 2008 Wed Dec 03 04:54:16 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Aug 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 11 13:06:26 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 14 07:30:41 -0700 2009
The story begins with Rosari, the family matriarch, her family and descendents from their be...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Mar 25 06:46:29 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 25 06:47:46 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Thu Dec 11 20:46:14 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 27 22:52:06 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Mar 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 16 04:31:01 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 16 04:31:23 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Nov 24 12:01:13 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 24 12:01:13 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Thu Oct 29 08:54:01 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 29 08:54:01 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Sep 05 11:57:22 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 05 11:57:34 -0700 2009 1 0 false false Tue Jul 28 06:23:16 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 28 06:23:16 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Jul 21 14:37:07 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 21 14:37:07 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Jul 20 19:57:34 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 20 19:57:34 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Thu May 28 04:48:52 -0700 2009 Thu May 28 04:48:52 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sat Mar 07 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Apr 22 14:30:19 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 22 14:30:34 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Apr 12 08:05:43 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 12 08:05:43 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Mar 25 08:46:40 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 25 08:47:13 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Mar 19 19:56:34 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 19 19:56:34 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Mar 19 12:45:25 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 19 12:50:21 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Mar 01 06:22:07 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 01 06:22:07 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Thu Dec 11 17:38:33 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 11 17:38:34 -0800 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=3993843