What My Father Taught Me

by Maria Giura

In What My Father Taught Me, Maria Giura writes richly and candidly about growing up Italian-American Catholic from her earliest days as the daughter of immigrant parents and a workaholic father to her coming of age and onward into adulthood where she works at reconciling the sensual and spiritual. Her poems are a celebration in the face of love and loss. They are at once intimate and universal, serious and light, and are grounded in the Brooklyn, New York that she cherished and called home: from her parents’ pastry shoppe, to the view from the Belt Parkway, to the family living room “where [she] learned to pull out the microphone, even though it was always broken, and sing.”

94 pages, Paperback

Published April 17, 2018

Reviews

[Marisa Labozzetta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not since reading Maria Maziotti Gillan have emotions leapt from the page and drawn me in. Giura has bared her soul, and done so masterfully. I picked up the book with the intention of reading several poems and could not put it down until the end. You will weep, angst, and smile with the honest Giura, who as both a sensitive child and young woman, takes you on her journey of growing up with a father earnest in providing for his daughters and strong, courageous wife, yet affection-wise absent for them. The collection will fill you with admiration and empathy for these individuals with the best of intentions but miss-matched abilities and ambitions. Giura will place you in the neighborhood of her origin with precision and engage you in ever-changing dialogue with God, as you will walk in her shoes over and over again, because, like me, you will never read it just once.

[Flossie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful "second look" by a daughter disappointed by the relationship she had with her father, but in heartfelt retrospect recognizing it was so much more than she realized. I read this book twice in a matter of days and recommend you do the same. You may come away with a new outlook on your own relationships. Sprinkled with black and white images of a time long gone, you will find yourself drifting off into your own (precious) story.

[Kathy Curto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maria Giura’s poems ignite the senses and the heart. There are the distinct smells of Italian American houses, bakeries and neighborhoods. There are sometimes gentle and sometimes bold reminders of the complexities that come with family life and family business. And there is the beautifully depicted confusion that surfaces when we grow up in a world of mixed messages and big love. A gorgeous volume of work!

[Marianna Randazzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maria Giura draws us into her memoir-like poems allowing the reader to feel the essence of an Italian-American upbringing in the borough many have called home-Brooklyn, New York.
These powerful vignettes of the life a youngster growing up in a time when youth and innocence went hand in hand, reflect all the angst and joy of the surroundings she encountered through her most formative years—a lovely read.

[Rita Ciresi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the way this poetry collection reads like a fragmented memoir. Each poem represents a significant moment in the author's life, and illustrates her many roles as a daughter, sister, cousin, aunt, and friend. If you grew up Catholic, and especially if you grew up Italian-American, you will find this collection a delight from start to finish.