The cage: Cristiano is an intelligent young devotee of Chekhov, but he has misunderstood Chekhov's philosophy. He refuses all outside contacts and lives in a cage. His realistic family (all with a healthy sense of humor) try convincing him life's worth living but only Chiara, his voluptuous sister in law, reaches him. The academy: A Venetian professor who believes Fascist Italy was unjustly defeated by the Americans exacts an unusual revenge by organizing a school for gigolos catering to American female tourists. The refrigerators: Penny, charming heiress to a huge fortune, lives in a bizarre house surrounded by mysterious, untouchable refrigerators allegedly family heirlooms but actually refrigerated coffins. Penny tries convincing her servant Nicola that her sister Inez is an identical twin. Nicola, suspicious and frightened, discovers that Inez is actually a male scientist and Penny's lover. In the night he experiments with half-thawed beauties in the refrigerators. Nicola calls in a short sighted police inspector and there's a fast, funny, unpredictable ending in the hilarious farce tradition

In early-1960s Venice, film director Guido Contini is savoring his most recent (and greatest) success but, facing his fortieth birthday,a midlife crisis is blocking his creative impulses and entangling him in a web of romantic difficulties.

First published in 1999. The many available scholarly works on Italian-Americans are perhaps of little practical help to the undergraduate or high school student who needs background information when reading contemporary fiction with Italian characters, watching films that require a familiarity with Italian Americans, or looking at works of art that can be fully appreciated only if one understands Italian culture. This basic reference work for non-specialists and students offers quick insights and essential, easy-to-grasp information on Italian-American contributions to American art, music, literature, motion pictures and cultural life. This rich legacy is examined in a collection of original essays that include portrayals of Italian characters in the films of Francis Coppola, Italian American poetry, the art of Frank Stella, the music of Frank Zappa, a survey of Italian folk customs and an analysis of the evolution of Italian-American biography. Comprising 22 lengthy essays written specifically for this volume, the book identifies what is uniquely Italian in American life and examines how Italian customs, traditions, social mores and cultural antecedents have wrought their influence on the American character. Filled with insights, observations and ethnic facts and fictions, this volume should prove to be a valuable source of information for scholars, researchers and students interested in pinpointing and examining the cultural, intellectual and social influence of Italian immigrants and their successors.