Monday,
January 07, 2008
"Polenta at Midnight: Tales of Gusto
and Enchantment in
The
ANNOTICO Report
A
Canadian- English guy - who marries into an Italian-Canadian family
and embraces the cultural differences, and is enriched by it.
The
book is divided into six acts, in the structure of an Italian opera, with all
the dramatic flourishes - arias, serenades, laments, intermissions, finale and
curtain call.
An Italian Flourish
Anglo
marries a woman and her culture
Enza Micheletti
Saturday, January 05, 2008
...We witnessed
some ugly moments of bigotry at the Bouchard-Taylor Commission.... What
Quebecers needed instead was a little inspiration, a little reminder of the
magic of ordinary lives made extraordinary when cultures meet, mingle, grow
together, intertwine. They needed to pick up a copy of
"Polenta at Midnight: Tales of Gusto and Enchantment in
The book is an
antidote to all that malaise. On its back cover, the reader discovers some
personal history about the author. Carley is a
social worker with the Dufferin-Peel Catholic School
Board in suburban
And that's
when the music starts. The book is divided into six acts, in the structure of
an Italian opera, with all the dramatic flourishes - arias, serenades, laments,
intermissions, finale and curtain call. Carley, the outsider,
is drawn into the theatricality of Italian customs, into what he describes as
"Garibaldi's Court," the court of the Patriarch. His father-in-law,
Angelo, takes on the character of Garibaldi, and the author is named "il Vagabondo" (the
vagabond). Carley addresses his readers, calling them
"the audience of the Living Opera," and urges them to join him.
"We will sing, dance, laugh, cry and eat polenta at midnight, al
fresco," he promises.
It's a call
that's hard to resist. You want to believe in this magical spell he is weaving.
You are eager for the lights to dim, the curtain to rise,
the drama to unfold. And like any ticket-holder, any observer, you pray it will
transport you to another place, move you, teach you something. The author
makes it clear, too, from the outset that's his goal. "Always there will
be the lezione," he writes, "something to
learn and then something to eat."
Does he succeed? In many ways, yes, mostly by finding meaning in little everyday
things. He gets us to see the poetry in motion of peeling roasted bell
peppers in Garibaldi's backyard; of dining on homemade wine and simple peasant
food - boiled pork shoulder, bread, salad (oregano, oil and vinegar dressing,
of course); of learning to make gnocchi, little potato dumplings, from scratch.
In his detailed descriptions we find beauty and meaning, and it's no small
feat. It reminded me of the quiet assurance of another writer, Carol Shields,
one of
That's not to
say I didn't expect to cringe a little, and sometimes did. As a daughter of Italian
immigrants, I was on the lookout for stereotypes and oversimplifications. And I
found some, like Carley's irritating stage
direction, "Shrug shoulders here," as if all Canadians of Italian
origin have that exaggerated mannerism. I wasn't impressed by the misspelled
Italian (a dictionary could fix that). And all that emphasis on food
had me worried, too. It's true that canning tomatoes is a ritual in most
Italian-Canadian households, an orchestrated affair that takes place in garages
across the country at summer's end. But there's more to Italian culture than
sauce-making.
Thankfully, the
author reaches for more meaning and delivers. The audience is drawn into
Angelo/Garibaldi's pain. When he loses his wife, Lina,
to cancer, the tragedy of it is clear. When he travels back to his hometown in
True, I'd have
liked a deeper glimpse into Vagabondo's Canadian
family. The author only hints at his relationship with his own father, a hole
in an otherwise compact, compelling story. And I'm not convinced the opera
metaphor was fully explored. But these shortcomings cannot take away the
grace of this book - out of love for his wife, a man
adopts a family and its culture, and is enriched by it. It's the tale of
Enza Micheletti is a Gazette copy editor
POLENTA AT
MIDNIGHT: TALES OF GUSTO AND ENCHANTMENT IN
Vihicule Press, 206 pages, $19.95
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/books/story.html?id=7ad26ff5-032d-4380-a2b1-461f35acaed5
The
ANNOTICO Reports Can be Viewed (and are Archived) on:
Italia
Italia Mia: http://www.ItaliaMia.com (3 years)
Annotico
Email: annotico@earthlink.net