Taking it Home: Stories from the Neighborhood
Encyclopedia
Taking it Home: Stories from the Neighborhood is the third collection by Tony Ardizzone
. Published in 1996 by the University of Illinois Press
/Sunsinger Books, it was a finalist for the Paterson Fiction Prize. Of the twelve stories included, six were previously published in the author's first collection The Evening News.
's North Side during the 1950s and '60s go further than the usual picturesque ethnic memoir, with Ardizzone taking them that extra step through added complexity and carefully chosen language. The narrator of "Baseball Fever" recalls how, as a young boy, he confused Catholicism
and baseball into one entity, leading to a unique perspective on religion: God "had several legions of good angels (my first lesson in the concept of a deep bench) waiting with drawn swords behind him." Meanwhile, the somewhat slatternly Bobbi plans to seduce her chaste Catholic boyfriend in order to bond with him forever, but instead she angers him in "The Daughter and the Tradesman." In "The Language of the Dead," a boy insists to a "fat Christian brother" that he was not the one who instigated a fight during a school basketball game that resulted in over $300 in damage. And "Ladies' Choice" describes the rituals of attending Sunday night dances for kids where "You don't have to be a Catholic to get in, but Catholics pay fifty cents less."
"Tony Ardizzone's neighborhood is the North Side of Chicago and, more specifically, the Italian Catholic neighborhoods that flourished there. In a dozen highly polished tales, Ardizzone describes a world that revolves around the church, the family, and work, in that order. Ardizzone's characters are no strangers to tragedy, physical violence, or prejudice, but he writes about them from an attitude of affection, not anger or regret. These stories will have an appeal far beyond the 'friendly confines'." -- Booklist
"These stories by Tony Ardizzone are distinguished by a quality that I have long admired in his writing: the solid way his fiction is grounded in the American experience. Ardizzone is a writer who writes out of love rather than anger or contempt, and his emotional palette is fittingly broad. Yet his great affection for his subjects never blinds him to the tough realities and inequalities of life on American streets; rather, it leads him to gaze more intently and to see deeper." -- Stuart Dybek
, author of The Coast of Chicago
Tony Ardizzone
Anthony V. Ardizzone is an American novelist, short story writer, and editor.-Biography:Ardizzone was raised on the North Side of Chicago. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in 1971 and from Bowling Green State University with an MFA in 1975...
. Published in 1996 by the University of Illinois Press
University of Illinois Press
The University of Illinois Press , is a major American university press and part of the University of Illinois system. Founded in 1918, the press publishes some 120 new books each year, plus 33 scholarly journals, and several electronic projects...
/Sunsinger Books, it was a finalist for the Paterson Fiction Prize. Of the twelve stories included, six were previously published in the author's first collection The Evening News.
Plot
These tales of an Italian-American neighborhood on ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
's North Side during the 1950s and '60s go further than the usual picturesque ethnic memoir, with Ardizzone taking them that extra step through added complexity and carefully chosen language. The narrator of "Baseball Fever" recalls how, as a young boy, he confused Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
and baseball into one entity, leading to a unique perspective on religion: God "had several legions of good angels (my first lesson in the concept of a deep bench) waiting with drawn swords behind him." Meanwhile, the somewhat slatternly Bobbi plans to seduce her chaste Catholic boyfriend in order to bond with him forever, but instead she angers him in "The Daughter and the Tradesman." In "The Language of the Dead," a boy insists to a "fat Christian brother" that he was not the one who instigated a fight during a school basketball game that resulted in over $300 in damage. And "Ladies' Choice" describes the rituals of attending Sunday night dances for kids where "You don't have to be a Catholic to get in, but Catholics pay fifty cents less."
Contents
- Baseball Fever
- Nonna (also appeared in The Evening News)
- The Eys of the Children (also appeared in The Evening News)
- My Mother's Stories (also appeared in The Evening News)
- Ritual
- The Language of the Dead
- The Man in the Movie
- The Daughter and the Tradesman (also appeared in The Evening News)
- World Without End (also appeared in The Evening News)
- Ladies' Choice
- Idling (also appeared in The Evening News)
- Holy Cards
Reviews
"These tales of an Italian-American neighborhood on Chicago's North Side during the 1950s and '60s go further than the usual picturesque ethnic memoir, with Ardizzone taking them that extra step through added complexity and carefully chosen language. All these stories distinguish themselves through empathetic portrayals of unexceptional people described in exceptional language." -- Publishers WeeklyPublishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
"Tony Ardizzone's neighborhood is the North Side of Chicago and, more specifically, the Italian Catholic neighborhoods that flourished there. In a dozen highly polished tales, Ardizzone describes a world that revolves around the church, the family, and work, in that order. Ardizzone's characters are no strangers to tragedy, physical violence, or prejudice, but he writes about them from an attitude of affection, not anger or regret. These stories will have an appeal far beyond the 'friendly confines'." -- Booklist
Booklist
Booklist is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. It is geared toward libraries and booksellers and is available in print or online...
"These stories by Tony Ardizzone are distinguished by a quality that I have long admired in his writing: the solid way his fiction is grounded in the American experience. Ardizzone is a writer who writes out of love rather than anger or contempt, and his emotional palette is fittingly broad. Yet his great affection for his subjects never blinds him to the tough realities and inequalities of life on American streets; rather, it leads him to gaze more intently and to see deeper." -- Stuart Dybek
Stuart Dybek
-Personal life:Dybek was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Chicago's Little Village and Pilsen neighborhoods in the 1950s and early 1960s. Dybek graduated from St. Rita of Cascia High School in 1959...
, author of The Coast of Chicago