Literary Nonfiction. GARIBALDI M. LAPOLLA: A STUDY OF HIS NOVELS is the first book-length examination of this important Italian-American author's work.
In their detailed and sensitive treatment of everyday life in early twentieth-century Italian Harlem, Lapolla's three published novels—THE FIRE IN THE FLESH (1931), MISS ROLLINS IN LOVE (1932), and
The Grand Gennaro
(1935) —form a cornerstone of early Italian-American fiction for readers familiar with the likes of Silvio Villa, Giuseppe Cautela, Louis Forgione, Frances Winwar, John Fante, Mari Tomasi, Pietro di Donato, Guido d'Agostino, and Jerre Mangione... Garibaldi M. Lapolla's name continues to remain in undeserved obscurity; he could very well be the best kept secret of Italian-American literature.