In a penetrating look at our national myth of rags-to-riches success, Ronald Ruiz tells the gripping story of the rise, unification, and decline of two very American families named Rocco and Martinez. Through his self-made scavenger business and a series of shrewd land investments, Italian immigrant Giuseppe Rocco raises himself from nothing to improbable wealth and political influence in northern California. RoccoÍs money and power allow him to possess a bride of high birth and breeding. Although to her he will never be more than a garbage collector, it is through their loveless marriage that Giuseppe Rocco becomes the patriarch of a dynasty of three sons. When her drug-addicted mother disappears, thirteen-year-old Sally Martinez abruptly becomes the matriarch of her family of six younger brothers and sisters. Over the next several years, Sally manages to keep her family fed, clothed and unbroken through a steely determination equal to that of Giuseppe Rocco. When 19-year-old Sally elopes with 18-year-old Joey Rocco, GiuseppeÍs oldest son, RoccoÍs world undergoes a subtle change. But only as he gradually recognizes his daughter-in-lawÍs considerable strengths does he begin to see her as a means to perpetuate his empire. The result is a subtle recasting of AmericaÍs Horatio Alger myth by ña talented, painstaking and intelligent writerî The Houston Post.

Undermining Race rewrites the history of race, immigration, and labor in the copper industry in Arizona. The book focuses on the case of Italian immigrants in their relationships with Anglo, Mexican, and Spanish miners (and at times with blacks, Asian Americans, and Native Americans), requiring a reinterpretation of the way race was formed and figured across place and time. Phylis Martinelli argues that the case of Italians in Arizona provides insight into “in between” racial and ethnic categories, demonstrating that the categorizing of Italians varied from camp to camp depending on local conditions—such as management practices in structuring labor markets and workers’ housing, and the choices made by immigrants in forging communities of language and mutual support. Italians—even light-skinned northern Italians—were not considered completely “white” in Arizona at this historical moment, yet neither were they consistently racialized as non-white, and tactics used to control them ranged from micro to macro level violence. To make her argument, Martinelli looks closely at two “white camps” in Globe and Bisbee and at the Mexican camp of Clifton-Morenci. Comparing and contrasting the placement of Italians in these three camps shows how the usual binary system of race relations became complicated, which in turn affected the existing race-based labor hierarchy, especially during strikes. The book provides additional case studies to argue that the biracial stratification system in the United States was in fact triracial at times. According to Martinelli, this system determined the nature of the associations among laborers as well as the way Americans came to construct “whiteness.”

Where did your surname come from? Do you know how many people in the United States share it? What does it tell you about your lineage? From the editor of the highly acclaimed Dictionary of Surnames comes the most extensive compilation of surnames in America. The result of 10 years of research and 30 consulting editors, this massive undertaking documents 70,000 surnames of Americans across the country. A reference source like no other, it surveys each surname giving its meaning, nationality, alternate spellings, common forenames associated with it, and the frequency of each surname and forename. The Dictionary of American Family Names is a fascinating journey throughout the multicultural United States, offering a detailed look at the meaning and frequency of surnames throughout the country. For students studying family genealogy, others interested in finding out more about their own lineage, or lexicographers, the Dictionary is an ideal place to begin research.

The book is a representation of the Pescopaganese community in the United States of North America. It represents the research commitment of decades by Prof. Giovanni Pinto who has been a driving force and a leader in this community for half a century. Besides an Introduction, Pinto’s book includes four sections: Part One – Our Italian roots and heritage: The territory, the history, the urban setting; Part Two: The causes of emigration, the passage, the communities, the progress; Part Three: A to Z: Genealogies, Profiles and Remembrances of deserving Families, Individuals and Businesses; and Part Four: Corollary documents. Prof. Pinto’s book is of great relevance to the history of America, of Italian Americans, and in particular of Pescopaganesi. This book would be a valuable gem in libraries of any Institution or Individual.

The Encyclopedia of Italian Literary Studies is a two-volume reference book containing some 600 entries on all aspects of Italian literary culture. It includes analytical essays on authors and works, from the most important figures of Italian literature to little known authors and works that are influential to the field. The Encyclopedia is distinguished by substantial articles on critics, themes, genres, schools, historical surveys, and other topics related to the overall subject of Italian literary studies. The Encyclopedia also includes writers and subjects of contemporary interest, such as those relating to journalism, film, media, children's literature, food and vernacular literatures. Entries consist of an essay on the topic and a bibliographic portion listing works for further reading, and, in the case of entries on individuals, a brief biographical paragraph and list of works by the person. It will be useful to people without specialized knowledge of Italian literature as well as to scholars.

Acclaimed Mexican-American attorney and author, Ronald L. Ruiz, returns with the publication of another fiery legal thriller. The Big Bear presents a compelling court case featuring a Mexican-American attorney and an Anglo physician. ñI didnÍt kill her,î the accused says. Gabby Garcia has heard it all before. ñEverything from outright lies to minimizations, omissions and simple denials.î GarcÕa has all the cases he can handle, but a new case is about to grab his attention. In physician Dr. Alan Newsome, a man accused of killing his wife, GarcÕa sees the ultimate challenge in his long struggle for recognition and worth. Gabby Garcia clawed his way out of farm work to become a lawyer for the poor and disenfranchised in San Jose, California, only to abandon them for the lure of bigger and better cases. Alienated and numb to the world around him, Garcia stumbles onto a life-altering murder case that demands that he find internal strength to prevail. Ronald L. Ruiz, best-selling author and former defense attorney and prosecutor, writes from bare-knuckled courtroom experience and the teeth-grinding memory of growing up the son of Mexican immigrants in rural California. His charactersÍ agonizing relationships and search for self-discovery provide an engrossing illustration of ever-present issues of success and social class in the United States. Ruiz populates this tale of passion, crime and politics with genuine and vulnerable characters, each one struggling to solve his or her own mysteries.