Paola Corso
Copyright © 2013 Paola Corso. All Rights Reserved.
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CATINA'S HAIRCUT
A NOVEL IN STORIES
by Paola Corso
On Family Tree Magazine's
Recommended Genealogy Reading List
On Library Journal's
"First Novels: Fall Firsts" Notable List
A Sons of Italy National Book Club Selection
Catina's Haircut spans four generations of a peasant
family in the brutal poverty of post-Unification southern
Italy and in an immigrant's United States. The women
in these tales dare to cross boundaries by discovering
magical leaps inherent in the landscape, in themselves,
and in the stories they tell and retell of family tragedy
at a time of political unrest. Through an oral tradition embedded in the stone of
memory and the flow of its reinvention, their passionate tale of resistance and
transformation courses forward into new generations in a new world.
"Here are important stories of loss and retrieval in an Italian family. We become
witnesses to the courageous and undeniably Italian struggle of the last century's
immigrants and consequently to that constant spark of human spirit in all people."
—Gioia Timpanelli, author of What Makes A Child Lucky
"From the hard, unforgiving soil of Calabria to the congested neighborhood of
Pittsburgh's Bloomfield section, the stories in Catina's Haircut eloquently present the
narrative of the Italian immigrant in America. Corso's eye is sharp, fiercely honest yet
also able to linger over unexpected beauty when it appears in this demanding
landscape."
—Hilary Masters, Carnegie Mellon University
"Catina's Haircut taps into deep places of storytelling—collective memory and
imagination, folklore and social history—to bring together in one book the Fata
Morgana, live chickens, the Risorgimento, and the Pittsburgh Steelers."
—Adria Bernardi, author of Openwork
. . .
"Corso follows an Italian family through four generations from the Calabrian town of
San Procopio to Pittsburgh in this fable-like follow-up to Giovanna's 86 Circles.... The
stories, individually, find moments of inspired, ethereal revelation."
—Publishers Weekly
"Rich in history, Paola Corso's Catina's Haircut is an imaginative look at the Italian
experience in America. Corso's small, vivid stories end up being writ large, alternately
personal and universal."
—Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"Paola Corso is the Italo Calvino of our time. It is the humor I love the most—the
wryness—the sweetness in these people's souls. Paola will be remembered for this.
Italo Calvino, at the time of his death in 1956, was the most translated of Italian
contemporary authors. Let us hope for an equal readership for Paola Corso."
—Grace Cavalieri, Host "The Poet and the Poem" from the Library of Congress"
"Paola Corso is especially good at the play between tales and fables and a brilliantly
solid, earthbound realism."
—Books for Readers
"Whether you're a first or seventh-generation Italian American, this novel will speak to
you about the reasons your family left Italy. You'll also gain insight into how they
turned miseria into miracles and built working-class identities that enabled them to
survive a new world."
—Fra Noi
Read Library Journal's "First Novels: Fall Firsts" notable list.
Read about Catina's Haircut on Psychology Today.
Read an Excerpt.
Click here to order from The University of Wisconsin Press website.
Order this book from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
family in the brutal poverty of post-Unification southern
Italy and in an immigrant's United States. The women
in these tales dare to cross boundaries by discovering
magical leaps inherent in the landscape, in themselves,
and in the stories they tell and retell of family tragedy
at a time of political unrest. Through an oral tradition embedded in the stone of
memory and the flow of its reinvention, their passionate tale of resistance and
transformation courses forward into new generations in a new world.
"Here are important stories of loss and retrieval in an Italian family. We become
witnesses to the courageous and undeniably Italian struggle of the last century's
immigrants and consequently to that constant spark of human spirit in all people."
—Gioia Timpanelli, author of What Makes A Child Lucky
"From the hard, unforgiving soil of Calabria to the congested neighborhood of
Pittsburgh's Bloomfield section, the stories in Catina's Haircut eloquently present the
narrative of the Italian immigrant in America. Corso's eye is sharp, fiercely honest yet
also able to linger over unexpected beauty when it appears in this demanding
landscape."
—Hilary Masters, Carnegie Mellon University
"Catina's Haircut taps into deep places of storytelling—collective memory and
imagination, folklore and social history—to bring together in one book the Fata
Morgana, live chickens, the Risorgimento, and the Pittsburgh Steelers."
—Adria Bernardi, author of Openwork
. . .
"Corso follows an Italian family through four generations from the Calabrian town of
San Procopio to Pittsburgh in this fable-like follow-up to Giovanna's 86 Circles.... The
stories, individually, find moments of inspired, ethereal revelation."
—Publishers Weekly
"Rich in history, Paola Corso's Catina's Haircut is an imaginative look at the Italian
experience in America. Corso's small, vivid stories end up being writ large, alternately
personal and universal."
—Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"Paola Corso is the Italo Calvino of our time. It is the humor I love the most—the
wryness—the sweetness in these people's souls. Paola will be remembered for this.
Italo Calvino, at the time of his death in 1956, was the most translated of Italian
contemporary authors. Let us hope for an equal readership for Paola Corso."
—Grace Cavalieri, Host "The Poet and the Poem" from the Library of Congress"
"Paola Corso is especially good at the play between tales and fables and a brilliantly
solid, earthbound realism."
—Books for Readers
"Whether you're a first or seventh-generation Italian American, this novel will speak to
you about the reasons your family left Italy. You'll also gain insight into how they
turned miseria into miracles and built working-class identities that enabled them to
survive a new world."
—Fra Noi
Read Library Journal's "First Novels: Fall Firsts" notable list.
Read about Catina's Haircut on Psychology Today.
Read an Excerpt.
Click here to order from The University of Wisconsin Press website.
Order this book from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
