Blood of My Blood

by Richard Gambino

Blood of My Blood eaves together the history, sociology and psychology of first, second, and third-generation Italian Americans. Its data is presented with scholarly precision; yet the author's personalized style, which he peppers with autobiographical tidbits, makes it immensely readable. Unlike most books written by academics, this one compels the reader to feel as well as to know.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Italy, Italian Literature

398 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1975

Reviews

[Giovan]

For the past few years, I’ve been reading a lot Italian-American novels, poetry and memoirs. And I’ve noticed, even if they talk about a wide-range of experiences there is this intangible blanket of sadness that covers the characters. I haven’t been able to figure out exactly what that sadness is and why it’s there, but Richard Gambino in Blood of My Blood makes a really good attempt. According to him, there are two things going on. One is that while the Italian-American family assimilates in American society, they remain on the margins. They do not branch outside of the family as it’s the family that retains the Italian traditions. Once you attempt to stray from the family and into American culture, you risk changing and losing those traditions. The second thing going on is the crisis of conflict of these italian traditions and American culture within the second generation (children of Italian immigrants born in the US). The italian traditions that were taught and enforced by their parents have lost the context of italian culture, so as these traditions are passed down to third and fourth generations there is a sense of confusion, isolation and emptiness. The italian culture is lost and all that’s left are these rules of gender roles and attitudes towards authority figures, work and education.

This was an interesting read, somewhat dated, but it had a lot of a-ha moments for me and made me understand more about my upbringing and the conflicts and resistance I’ve felt over the years. The one thing I would have liked the author to acknowledge was that this old Italian way of the farming communities of Italy don’t exist anymore in Italy as well. That subsequent generations from the original contadini must have felt similar conflicts as Italy modernised.

[Jon]

This book was a lot of fun to read. I use the word "fun" perhaps a bit misleadingly. It is a very serious treatment, but Gambino has this artful, entertaining way of presenting the ironies and self conscious pageantry of southern Italian culture and society and its transmutation into Italian immigrant society in America. Much of the 'data' of his observations is merely anecdotal. It is sort of his take on things, like much of what you find in Luigi Barzini's The Italians. There is very little documentation for the source material and in a sense you might almost consider it a primary source, an autobiographical rough but poignant sketch of the peculiarities of Gambino's immigrant countrymen.

[Gina]

A fascinating look at Italian immigrant culture in the U.S. Dated but nonetheless valuable in providing insights into the values of southern Italians and the tensions that arose when those values and the familial structures and realpolitik they spawned were transposed to America.

[Patti Howe]

This book was written in the 70s but is still relevant today. As a second generation of Neapolitan Italian-Americans, I was able to grasp why our parents/grandparents were the way they were: untrusting of authority, clannish, family-oriented, the rivalry between the northern & southern Italians, and so much more. Gambino finally put into words all that I've witnessed growing up & observing about 'la via vecchia.' Wow and wow! Beautifully written & easy to read as the author inserts events from his life into his cultural observations.

[Catherine]

I was looking for insight into my grandfather’s culture as a child of Italian immigrants in the 1930’s. I knew what he told me, but there were many unclear things to reconcile. When he passed, I decided to do some research and this book seemed to be key. Many things resonated for me about his culture in general and how he grew up as well as for my father as the second generation growing up in the 70’s. I am thankful to have found this book!

[Alexis]

Exceptional! While some things have changed in the 46 years this has been in print, some things remain very much the same. The final two chapters are particularly illuminating and remain all too relevant.

[Caroline]

I became interested in reading this by my relatives who unearthed some family history recently. This book contains a somewhat brief but very interesting portrayal of Italian-Americans in working class New York City during civil rights era. This was pretty much before my time, being written in the early 70's. The author worries, at the time, about the fate of third-gen Italian-Americans. Even though this is just the author's well-informed point of view, I definitely want to read more about this subject and get some other viewpoints.

[Vincent Lombardo]

Magnificent! I am a second generation Sicilian-American, and this book meant so much to me! Finally, someone understood my journey!