423 ratings | 114 reviews | avg rating:4.16

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Camille Cusumano

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Website

http://www.camillecusumano.com

Twitter

camille@camillecusumano

Genre

Memoir, Fiction, Travel

Influences

Toni Morrison, Gabrel Garcia Marques, Marcel Proust, Albert Camus, Gus ...more

Member Since

October 2012

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/ocaramia

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Camille Cusumano is the author of Tango, an Argentine Love Story, a memoir of a woman who loved, lost, got mad, and decided to dance. She was an editor at VIA Magazine, the West’s award-winning travel publication, for 17 years. Her work has appeared in publications such as National Geographic Traveler, Islands, Country Living, the San Francisco Chronicle, North American Review, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, the New York Times, Yoga Journal, Vegetarian Times, and the Washington Post. Her cookbook credits include The New Foods (Henry Holt), America Loves Salads (Literary Guild), Rodale’s Basic Natural Foods Cookbook (co-written with Carol Munson, Editor Charles Gerras), and Tofu, Tempeh, and Other Soy Delights (Rodale). Her no ...more

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Camille Cusumano’s books

Average rating: 3.59 · 423 ratings · 66 reviews · 26 distinct works • Similar authors

	France, A Love Story: Women Write About the French Experience 3.71 avg rating — 100 ratings — published 2004 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tango: An Argentine Love Story 3.05 avg rating — 99 ratings — published 2008 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Italy, A Love Story: Women Write About the Italian Experience 3.56 avg rating — 84 ratings — published 2005 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Greece, A Love Story: Women Write about the Greek Experience 3.69 avg rating — 72 ratings — published 2007 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mexico, A Love Story: Women Write About the Mexican Experience 3.81 avg rating — 53 ratings — published 2006 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Last Cannoli: A Novel 4.33 avg rating — 18 ratings — published 1999 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Mystique of the Last Cannoli it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Wilderness Begins at Home: Travels With My Big Sicilian Family it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tango Fantasia: Three Tango Book Collection 4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Eat Dance Love: Anthology of Tango Stories it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Camille is Currently Reading

Camille Cusumano is currently reading

The Giant's House

by Elizabeth McCracken

bookshelves: fiction, currently-reading

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Jul 30, 2019 03:00PM

Camille Cusumano is currently reading

THE WHOREHOUSE IS ON FIRE!

by William D. McCann

bookshelves: fiction, currently-reading

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Camille Cusumano said: " You have never read a book like this one, unless maybe you've read Homer's Iliad and Odyssey or perhaps James Joyce's version of the hero's/anti-hero's journeys—Ulysses. This book, thinly veiled fiction, is a sleeper that needs to wake up every resid You have never read a book like this one, unless maybe you've read Homer's Iliad and Odyssey or perhaps James Joyce's version of the hero's/anti-hero's journeys—Ulysses. This book, thinly veiled fiction, is a sleeper that needs to wake up every resident of California and let's make that the entire U.S.A. There is so much to enjoy about The Whorehouse and so much to open one's eyes to, especially regarding political corruption--rampant pay to play--in the late great Golden State. The book is divided into four parts, which move the narrative along, indeed pull the reader like a drumbeat or sabre rattle that you can't stop following, so entranced are you. The tale will keep you awake at nights, worrying, wanting to know what happens next to our beleaguered protagonist, Kevin Ryan, an erstwhile serene lawyer in a pleasant valley type burb of San Francisco, called "Damnville." The book opens with Ryan dreaming that Henry Kissinger is yelling, "The whorehouse is on fire! Everybody out!" It doesn't take long for the reader to realize the whorehouse is the corrupt California gov't, in particular, during the reign of Dred Gravis (get it?). Oh yeah, you'll recognize many pseudonyms or monikers, like the Exterminator. This author, who clearly has suffered the deviltry, greed, and cheating of corrupt lawyers, has a wonderful sense of humor, dark at times. Oh, and many will appreciate his not being P.C. but telling it like it is, using the most graphic and earthy of terms and at times the most lyrical. This book is spicy, bawdy, shooting from the hip and from limbs lower and at times higher. McCann (a lawyer himself) can be so endearingly cerebral. Ryan is one tough biscotti but the evil lawyers, jealous of his poise, power, and philanthropy, want him to crumble. Part One opens with Ryan being in jail in Martinez, CA, obstinately refusing to settle a frivolous/bogus suit against him, thus opting for this dungeon of lowlife. In short: Ryan and his law partner, Cavanaugh, gave one Eichmann (think Eichler) a legal tax deduction in a fair deal to help them build a theater for children in Damnville. Eichmann, in slimy cahoots with one Gutterman sue Ryan for tax evasion---all lies but the gutter man gets the slimiest of human ectoplasm in places as high (and formerly noble) as the attorney gen'l and even the gov’ner, to play along. I'm leaving out lotsa details (book is 456 riveting pp.). Part two is so sad as the stress of Ryan's will to stay the high ground and fight corrupt lawsuits sparks a break-in to his and his partner's homes---families are hurt by this (this really can happen and you can tell it has—this is a “faux memoir” which adds to its literary greatness). His partner begins to fight for his life, coming down with stress-related leukemia-like cancer. The evil forces seem to have won, but then come Parts 3 and 4. In Part 3 what Ryan does to his character assassins is told in dream time and is chilling with fascinating details about poisonous frogs from So. America and smallcraft aviation, BUT it is nothing compared with what really happens to these antagonists in real life in part 4. I've left out the sexy parts - this guy Ryan is drop-dead handsome with laser-blue eyes and a charisma that oozes off the page. There's a Philippina lover and a Chinese lover --- with tasteful sex scenes that titillate. You’ll love the character names (changed to protect the guilty): Begonia Heads, Flume, Gerbils, Cod Blenny, Remus, Bong Bong Tamarindo, the White Witch (aka Cassandra), Darwina Clutter, Huey Lovelorn (aka Loveless). And you’ll learn new terminology as they drag Ryan into endless clusterfucks and such. The author is Irish American and has that inimitable facility with language that only someone who studied creative writing in Galway could have. This author is a natural poet---that is evident in his breathtakingly gorgeous use of English.Toward the end there is a lovely pastoral scene (nod to Hemingway) of flyfishing at Pyramid Lake, where Ryan takes refuge, and humorous online chats with his Chinese beauty who has prescient vision. Every lawyer, every politician, everyone who votes or whines about the state of things must read this book. And anyone who loves a good read. ...more "

Feb 01, 2017 08:14AM · see review

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Camille Cusumano rated a book it was amazing The Covert Buccaneer by S. Lucia Kanter St. Amour (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
True-Blue Italian Americana This is a captivating work of historical fiction, with anchors in now and then, woven so deftly into a seamless saga of family and heritage, with a sharply honed literary edge. It is extraordinary in the depth of research t ...more
Jun 28, 2026 02:37PM · like · see review
Camille Cusumano rated a book it was amazing Italian Love Cake (VIA Folios) by Gail Reitano	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The beauty of this novel runs deep—beyond the protagonist's love of her late mother, Carmela, beyond her passionate romance with Beppo, beyond her skillful whipping up of Italian love cake and other wonderful baked goods that the locals love and buy. ...more
May 18, 2026 10:28AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Italian Love Cake by Gail Reitano. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Italian Love Cake by Gail Reitano <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Camille Cusumano is now following Gail Reitano Author of Italian Love Cake (VIA Folios)
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Camille Cusumano rated a book it was amazing The Mystique of the Last Cannoli by Camille Cusumano (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 08, 2026 12:20PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Mystique of the Last Cannoli by Camille Cusumano. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Mystique of the Last Cannoli by Camille Cusumano <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">