Just a little Background Information

I’ve been reading “critiques of my work.” I put that in quotes because they’re not critiques of my work; they’re mini biographies about me supposedly based on my work, most of which is misinterpreted just to fit in with what the critic wants to say. One critic told me that literary critics aren’t required to do research. Apparently, he doesn’t realize that all that really means is that a literary critic doesn’t have to know what he’s talking about and can just make up stuff.

So if there’s anyone out there who wants to be a responsible literary critic, here are a few facts that you might be interested in knowing.

I was born in Brooklyn on May 20, 1951. Contrary to popular belief, I’m still alive—at least as of this writing.

My paternal grandparents were from the province of Naples, my grandmother from Procida and my grandfather from Castellammare di Stabia. They were nobility, a count and countess, and knew King Vittorio Emanuele II personally. Not all the immigrants left Italy because they were poor. Some had other reasons, usually political, or maybe they just had a sense of adventure.

My maternal grandparents came from Alcamo, a small city in Sicily. They were probably poor, although they’re not poor now. I know that because I visited with them, living for a year and three months in Alcamo.

Although I’m half Neapolitan and half Sicilian, I have always identified as Neapolitan. When my mother died a month before my eight birthday, my father brought me and my brother to live with his mother, who had arrived in Brooklyn with my grandfather (I don’t think they were married.) when she was seventeen years old. Although my brother and I were pretty much neglected, my grandmother was a big influence on me. I watched her and I listened to her and I learned to be Neapolitan and proud of it. Sicilians, in spite of the fact that my mother also had a big influence on me, were always seen by me as foreigners. I was just too little when she died.