I wasn't sure what I expected when I read Richard Gambino's book. The only thing I can say is that it was a real eye-opener! As a second generation Italian, this book brought home all the thoughts and feelings I had over a lifetime, and gave them a clarity never before experienced. Suddenly things that my immigrant father had told me had meaning...the hows and whys were suddenly answered. La Via Vechia (The Old Ways) were always important, and stressed in my home, and now are being handed down to my own children. The book is clearly written, and a very entertaining and engrossing read. Bravo, Signore Gambino, Bravo!

A simple, if not scholarly, account of a mass murder perpetrated on a number of helpless innocents. This would be a fine True Crime book, but Richard Gambino does not want to simply tell a story America forgot. He delivers the details of the henious crime set in the intrigue of the New Orleans political scene. And gives insight, with historical perspective, to the diplomatic backlash and the response of an apathetic America. A must read for Italian-Americans, who crave a little righteous rage or for those who have any interest in the Immigration debate. This book is a reminder of one of a series of pass sins commited by a "multi-cultural conscious" society.

This is a dangerous book. Because, with the excuse of explaining the situation of Italian-Americans and their past failure to fully integrate in the American society, it sneaks in pseudo-justifications of the infamous so-called "via vecchia", the "ancient way". A set of outmoded modalities, which is in large part responsible for having prevented Italian-Americans to contributing to the country they belong to, the United States. And which has often made them the laughing stock of other minorities, for their pagan rites molded into a corruption of Catholicism, such as when the statue of the Madonna gets covered with dollar bills. Or for their worship, of too many, of society scum like Al Capone and Joe Bonanno, instead of putting, on their banner, all those great Italian-Americans who have really contributed to their adopted country. Such as founding father Filippo Mazzei, scientists like Antonio Meucci and Enrico Fermi, musicians like Salvatore Massaro and Johnny Guarneri, activists like Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, writers like Gregory Corso and Diane DePrima. Instead of letting people grow disgusted with restaurant names like Benito I and Benito II!

There is practically nothing that can be saved from this book. Its history is a set of uncorrelated events, mostly erroneous or misinterpreted. The quotes in Italian are often misspelled or mistranslated. The descriptions of other communities is based on execrable stereotypes (for Jews) and are often outright racist (for Blacks).

But the top of the nonsense is reached with its emphasis on blood: "Italian ethnicity comes with the blood, if not through it" (p.375). Now, I have seen the blood of Italian-Americans and I can testify, scientifically, that it does not look any different from that of, say, Chinese or Senegalese. With his reliance of "blood", Gambino - apparently a frustrated college professor - indicates that he lives in a fantasy world similar to that of Germany in the 1930's. I suppose that his book would probably be forbidden in most European countries, which have laws against advocacy of racism and slander.

So, no hope for Italian-Americans? Quite the contrary. Gambino & co. may just learn from the examples of other Italian communities outside of Italy. Southern Switzerland, for instance, threw away its via vecchia almost two centuries ago and contributed to the government several Federal Councillors, such as Stefano Franscini, from the beginning of the Swiss Confederation in 1848 - beating the US where, with the exception of an Irish Catholic, all presidents have been White Anglo Saxon Protestants. In the "Repubblica e Cantone Ticino" the official language is Italian: schools, laws, courts, radio, tv, road signs, equipment instructions, all everyday-life activities are in Italian, like everything else. The same applies to the four valleys of Mesolcina, Calanca, Bregaglia and Poschiavo, which are proudly Italian speaking, though located in the Grisons, German/Romantsch country. Just pick up a Swiss money bill and you will see that it is written, among others, in Italian, like every Swiss document, from passport and driver's license to government statistics and web pages, because Italian is a National Language.

So, forget about blood. The answer lies in an old Italian song of the Grisons: "popoli ci affratella l'italica favella". Namely, it is the Italian language that creates our brotherhood of people. And not the via vecchia, and the glorification of the criminal deeds of the Gambino family.

Blood of My Blood is an unfortunately dated piece of pseudo-ethnic fluff. Readers who consider this text an historical document should take note of a number of things: first, it was written during the 1970s (a time of ethnic revival with a strong underlying political agenda, often reactionary and racist); second, the book has no footnotes, no bibliography, nothing to point one deeper; finally, consider again that it was written over 25 years ago and that much has changed for Italian Americans and everyone else. Gambino is well known among students of Italian American history, especially for his well-researched work Vendetta. Unfortunately, much of his work is, in a word, reactionary, riddled with stereotypes---in some cases nothing more than thinly veiled racism---and largely under-documented and poorly researched. If there is any worth to Blood of My Blood, it is the author's own anecdotes about his childhood and about his family and neighborhood. In the end, however, anecdotes are nothing more than anecdotes, and the larger Italian American experience---in all its complexity---is left untouched. This book, thus, reads like a mere handbook of someone's prejudices about what it means to be Italian American or how one should behave and think (or not think) in order to be an Italian American. Readers interested in serious studies of Italian American history that contain much more depth and represent actual scholarship are better advised to look at more recent work/more researched work by folks like Rudy Vecoli, Philip Cannistraro, Donna Gabaccia, Gary Mormino, George Pozzetta, Virginia Yans-McLoughlin, Robert Orsi, and the list goes on...These scholars bring a "love" of their subject, as well as genuine reserach, something sorely lacking in Blood of My Blood. Those who feel that Italian American history and ethnicity amounts to nothing more than food, "la via vecchia," and political antipathy should continue to read Gambino, thereby reinforcing those preconceived prejudices.

This book is something that all 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation Italian-Americans should read. It brings an understanding of the first generation of Italian Americans to those of us who were not born or not old enough to understand the circumstances of the first generation. I am a third generation Italian American with behavior patterns and emotions I could not understand until I read this book. The book has also given me a new appreciation for my second generation parents and some of the barriers between us as I grew up.

I promise that every page of this book will either make you laugh out loud, or bring you to tears.

In short, buy it, read it, lend it to others!

After watching the movie Vendetta, I could not believe that it was based on an actual incident. I read the book, which is much better than the movie and so even more horrifying. Engrossing, detailed account of an incredibly savage, brutal incident of American bigotry. Excellent documentation.