First Published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

In Queen Calafia's Paradise, Ken Scambray explains that California offers Italian American protagonists a unique cultural landscape in which to define what it means to be an American and how Italian American protagonists embark on a voyage to reconcile their Old World heritage with modern American society. In Pasinetti's From the Academy Bridge (1970), Scambray analyzes the influence of Pasinetti's diverse California landscape upon his protagonist. Scambray argues that any reading of Madalena's Confetti for Gino (1959), set in San Diego's Little Italy, must take into account Madalena's homosexuality and his little known homosexual World War II novel, The Invisible Glass (1950). In his chapters covering John Fante's Los Angeles fiction, Scambray explores the Italian American's quest to locate a home in Southern California. Ken Scambray teaches courses in North American Italian literature and Los Angeles fiction at the University of La Verne.

Remembering Italian America: Memory, Migration, Identity examines the life of Italians in the United States and the role of migration and collective memory in the history of the construction of Italian American identity. Employing the concept of communicative memory, the authors explain the processes that gave shape to Italian identity in America and the ways in which a symbolic identity became concretized in Italian American oral histories. The text explores the Italy migrants left behind, transatlantic networks, the welcome received by the Italian newcomers, the socioeconomic fabric of Italian America, and the singular worldview that grew out of the immigrant experience. In exploring the role of memory in the construction of Italian American identity, the book analyzes the commonalities in the lives of immigrants, allowing the Italian American experience to speak to the circumstances of newer immigrant communities and allowing these new immigrant communities to speak to the Italian migrant history. Looking at Italian American culture from a multidisciplinary perspective, this volume brings various theoretical perspectives to bear on "what, why, and how" questions concerning the Italian American experience. This book will be of interest to students of ethnic studies, immigration studies, and American/transnational studies, as well as American history. Winner of the 2022 Italian American Studies Association Book Award

The entire Italian American experience—from America's earliest days through the present—is now available in a single volume. This wide-ranging work relates the entire saga of the Italian-American experience from immigration through assimilation to achievement. The book highlights the enormous contributions that Italian Americans—the fourth largest European ethnic group in the United States—have made to the professions, politics, academy, arts, and popular culture of America. Going beyond familiar names and stories, it also captures the essence of everyday life for Italian Americans as they established communities and interacted with other ethnic groups. In this single volume, readers will be able to explore why Italians came to America, where they settled, and how their distinctive identity was formed. A diverse array of entries that highlight the breadth of this experience, as well as the multitude of ways in which Italian Americans have influenced U.S. history and culture, are presented in five thematic sections. Featured primary documents range from a 1493 letter from Christopher Columbus announcing his discovery to excerpts from President Barack Obama's 2011 speech to the National Italian American Foundation. Readers will come away from this book with a broader understanding of and greater appreciation for Italian Americans' contributions to the United States.