Sometimes I Dream in Italian: A Novel

by Rita Ciresi

Angel Lupo grew up in a traditional Italian home — an exclusive club where Mama’s word was everything ... and where nice girls saved themselves for marriage. All Angel wanted was to be movie-star blond, change her name, and get as much attention as her prettier older sister Lina.

Now Angel is nearing thirty, penning Catholic greeting cards for a living, and still jealous of her sister, who has a house in the suburbs, two kids, and a husband who loves her. So Angel does the next best thing: She answers a personal ad.

Dirk Diederhoff is blond, teaches at Vassar, and is definitely not Italian. Nor is he the thrill-a-minute lover and soul mate Angel prays for. But as Lina, recklessly embarked on an affair of her own, would tell her: There are no perfect tens out there — only men who want you to talk to them in Italian during sex.

The award-winning author of Pink Slip gets the rituals and rhythms of domestic life just right in Sometimes I Dream in Italian , a bittersweet comedy about sisters, lovers, and a family that doesn’t quite translate.

Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Italian Literature, Womens Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Short Stories, Book Club

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Rita Ciresi was born in New Haven, Connecticut, a city which serves as the backdrop for most of her fiction. Ciresi is the author of three award-winning novels and two short-story collections that address the Italian-American experience.

Her latest novel, Bring Back My Body to Me, was a semi-finalist for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award and a runner-up for the Faulkner/Wisdom Novella Award. Publishers Weekly called it "sensitive, funny, and charming. . . a refreshing entry to the very clogged sub-genre of cancer lit."

Her first collection of short stories, Mother Rocket, won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction and was a finalist for the 1993 Los Angeles Times' Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction.

Her first novel, Blue Italian, was published in hardcover in 1996 by Ecco Press and in paperback by Delacorte Press in 1997. In 1999, it was translated and published as Blau ist die Hoffnung by Goldmann Verlag, Munich. Blue Italian was selected by Barnes and Noble as part of their "Discover New Writers Series." Reviewers have praised the novel as follows: "Rita Ciresi's beautifully written, bittersweet first novel examines love and marriage with unflinching honesty. The ending, with its moving, explicit sense of loss, resonates long after the book is closed." (Elle) "There is a sure hand and a keen eye reporting from the two ethnic camps. . . . Despite their faults and excesses. . . the characters. . . are funny and sympathetic in their misery." (New York Times) "This is honest, earthy, warm, and funny--as well as heartbreaking. Highly recommended." (Library Journal) "There is real substance in this tragicomic story of two people with smart mouths and starved hearts groping their way towards a love they don't get much chance to enjoy." (Publisher's Weekly) "A remarkably accomplished debut." (Booklist)

Ciresi’s second novel, Pink Slip was published by Delacorte in 1999, and by Delta Trade paperbacks in 2000. It was translated into German as Ein Mann fur Lisa (Goldmann Verlag, Munich) and into Dutch as Vlinders (Arena Publishers, Amsterdam). Pink Slip was the winner of the 1997 Pirate's Alley Faulkner Prize for the Novel and an alternate selection of the Literary Guild and the Doubleday Book Club. Critical response to Pink Slip was as follows: “Wit and humor are the keys to this lively novel.” (Mademoiselle) “It’s refreshing to find a female narrator with an authentically lusty voice.” (New York Times) “A moving love story.” (Redbook) “Ciresi mixes the tragic and the comic aspects of love in hilarious fashion.” (Tampa Tribune-Times) “Bright characters and sharp dialogue make this witty romantic comedy a worthy sequel to the author’s admirable Blue Italian.” (Dallas Morning News) “Pink Slip amuses from start to finish.” (Penn Stater).

Ciresi’s volume of linked short stories, Sometimes I Dream in Italian, was published in 2001 to positive reviews from Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, and newspapers from the St. Petersburg Times to the New Haven Advocate. The New York Times Book Review listed the volume under its “New and Noteworthy Paperbacks” and stated, “Ciresi has a lovely ear for dialogue and the ability to nail the details in descriptions that are both funny and painfully accurate.” The collection was a Book Sense 76 pick and a finalist for the Paterson Fiction Prize; it was translated into German by Goldmann Verlag as Italienische Kusse.

Remind Me Again Why I Married You is a sequel to Pink Slip. Told in alternating voices, Remind Me explains what happens when a man who values his privacy above all else marries a woman who is writing a tell-all novel.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a writer! Rita Ciresi had me enthralled from beginning to end of this loosely connected series of stories about sisters Lina and Angel and their Italian parents. Blisteringly funny, sad, and everything in between, each story was a gem. And Mama—not a Mama I would have wanted, but a formidable woman one would never forget. I loved this book!

[Frances Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

My cousin recommended this book to me; we are 100% Italian-American, and I thought I would be able to relate. Maybe it was this disappointment that leads me to rate this book as two stars, which nmeans, "It was okay." I attribute the fact that I didn't enjoy it more to what I call the "over-hype phenomenon." Definition: whenever someone raves about a book or a movie too much, they are setting the listener up for disappointment because they've set the bar too high. I did think the book was pretty funny in places; I certainly related to Angel's longing to be blonde. (Any brunette who grew up in the 60s bears the battlescars of enduring Clairol's relentless, "Is it true blondes have more fun?" advertising campaign. Took me YEARS to make peace with my almost-black hair.) So here's the deal - while this is not a book I would run right out tell everyone to read, I admit that I personally plan to read more of Ciresi's stuff. She is a skillful writer, to be sure, and has a lot of depth and heart. I want to give her another chance because I do believe I was a victim of over-hype. Things just NEVER measure up when they've been over-hyped. Here's proof: I didn't think the movie There's Something About Mary was funny - everyone else in the free world thinks it's the gold standard of funny. Guess what? Over-hyped to me by too many people!

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book depressed me a little. I felt bad for the characters and how they were so dysfunctional and couldn't get past their hang-ups. I understand every culture has their good and bad sides but I felt like this family had all the bad qualities. I love books that her about Italian heritage and culture and this one just depressed me.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is beautiful and disturbing, and not just because my mom wrote it.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was overall a cute story about two sisters growing up in an Italian immigrant family in New Haven, Connecticut. Spanning many years, the story is about the sisters' relationship and the relationship each of them has with their parents. There is some exploration of mental illness and suicide at the end, but I felt that the book was too short to address these topics in much death. Once I got into it, this was a quick read, but I doubt it will be very memorable.

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

vassar mentioned

[Jennifer Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those, "I'll just pull it off the shelf and it give it a go", cold call books- where for some reason, amongst the isles and isles of books, this one title caught my attention in the library. I gave the back cover a quick review and decided to try it out. Sometimes the cold call books surprise you.

This was a pretty enjoyable read. Interestingly enough Rita Ciresi's, Sometimes I Dream in Italian setting takes place in New Haven, of all places. It chronicles the life of a fictional Italian-American family, (there's a huge Italian section here) as they struggle to keep their old traditions as well as adopt new, American traditions. Told from the eyes of the youngest daughter, she writes her memoirs of her family as a child and as an adult.

There's a relative saddness about this book, as the daughters are torn between their Italian heritage and their rebellion against the very thing they are. The memories they share as young children are sweet, and innocent, but as they grow up, you see them harden, become bitter and unhappy, uncertain of who they really want to be. Angel, (the narrator), feels so unsure of herself and eager to escape her family, while Lina, (Angel's sister), becomes the quint-essential board Connecticut housewife her mother wanted her to be, but is absolutely miserable in that role. Despite their deeper and deeper diverging lives, the two sister remain close, bonded by their confusion over their feelings about their family.

As you can tell- this is a hard book to explain. I enjoyed it as they are many layers to the characters and you can sympathize with even the ones who display bad behaviours. I really love books about close sister relationships- (probably because I am very close with my own sister), and this one had me thinking about the sweet, innocent and fun times she and I used to share. It was also fitting since the daughters were so confused by their parents, something I think my sister and I also struggle with from time to time. I'm giving this book a 7/10, it's well written and an enjoyable, "random" read. It does have a dark side though- and I can't say that it's always a cheerful book, but not all books have to be.

[BumbleBrie Bourn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was just a bad book. Like the end, with it’s tailing into downtown New Haven... why did you even want to write it? & the back of the book “...Still jealous of her sister, who has a house in the suburbs, two kids, and a husband who loves her”. The back of the book was obviously written by a goon who works for Delta/Bantamdell. I can’t recommend it to anyone to read.

[Madelina · Rating 2 out of 5]

funny if you have any italian decent realtives you can realate, gives you a sense of relief that your not the only family in the world this crazy

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some books that I reread on a regular basis, whether yearly, biyearly, or...

It had been several years since I last read Sometimes I Dream in Italian: A Novel by Rita Ciresi, and figured it was time for a reread. I had forgotten how pleasantly quirky the book is.

Angel Lupo tells the story of growing up in an Italian household, a household that she and her sister Lina would discuss, even as they tried to outrun some of their memories. What was the most hideous thing in their Catholic household? The seashell-studded crucifix? The strange things that their parents brought on a trip to see the Statue of Liberty? Questionable relatives?

Once they've moved out, things really get interesting, with Lina on the verge of divorce, while Angel debates marrying the wrong man. It ends with a hospital stay, and questions of how the sisters cope.

Is Rita Ciresi's book Sometimes I Dream in Italian: A Novel worth reading? Most definitely.

[Victoria Caddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this book was skillfully written, I found myself feeling sorry for the characters and feeling uncomforable in their relationships. I grew up in an Italian-American home surrounded by relatives and didn't know anyone who felt the way these girls did about their parents. I suppose I assumed I would relate to the Italians in the story but everything about it was foreign to me. Again, it was very well written.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars because the portrayal of Italian Americans was fairly spot-on, writing was quite good. Couldn't give the other two stars because this book was very depressing to me and didn't show any endearing or positive qualities for anybody. Maybe it just struck too close to home for me as an Italian-American. I couldn't finish it but perhaps if I did there may have been a redeeming ending.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable - even though I'm not Italian. Tale of two sisters growing up in a poor urban Italian neighborhood. Expresses the love / hate relationship all ethnic groups have with their parents and family.

[Debra Sartwell · Rating 1 out of 5]

I never finished I read over 1/2 it was funny in spots but the language and descriptions they used for body parts etc were gross. It started out funny but overpowering on the words and very depressing

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I'm glad I finally read this! Some issues with continuity and repetitiveness, but very interesting look at an Italian American family. Full review soon.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it-a quick read.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in 2002. This story is all about Italian sisters in Connecticut growing up in a dysfunctional Italian family. I wasn't crazy about the ending...no spoiler alerts!

[Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two sisters and their apathy towards their parents. They grow up and are unhappy adults.

[marie rodriguez · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rude and inlike any Italian American family we new. Being Italian American thought I would relate to this book. Did not.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

This sounded promising but after the first few chapters I thought it was boring and going no where.

Not a goodread

[Stefanie Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

""

[Ella · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Sometimes I Dream in Italian" is an interesting book, to say the least. It is written in the style of memoirs of fictional protagonist Angel Lupo - her trials growing up in an Italian-American home, how her upbringing touched and influenced her adult life, so on and so forth.

I found the book to be very interesting in the cultural aspect. Coming from a family that has almost no cultural affiliation whatsoever, I always find families whose traditions and cultures are still so prominent in their lives fascinating. The Italian culture, in particular, is one of those lurid, enticing family dynamics that I think causes the nuclear family units, like my own, living out their solitary lives in the suburbs to salivate at the very thought of. While in my home (and many others) family matters were never discussed openly, my mother was a typical single mother and never home, and the bulk of my cuisine had both microwave and traditional oven directions, Angel's descriptions of her intricate family life were wonderfully fun to read. Her overbearing, "sickeningly Italian" mother, her Babbo, her cousins and uncles and aunts and nephews, and of course an endless supply of lasagna and eggplant parmigiana translated exceptionally to print. To be honest, I forgot entirely that this was a work of fiction and found myself feeling as if I were peeking into the-very-real-Angel's life.

However, I felt the book began to go downhill once Angel become older. The book lost it's shiny veneer, lost it's quaint charm about two sisters growing up in an Italian-American neighborhood and became about the harsh realities of life. Reading about her sister's affair, her passionless relationship with some German professor, her mother's stroke, I found myself yawning and thinking "Who cares?" I felt as if the characters were simply glanced over and not given much thought. Sure, they were fascinating silhouettes of people, but they all seemed like empty outlines of human beings.

Overall, a fun read but not something I would run out to the store to grab.

[Jerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ciresi/Sedaris? Similar Styles, Separate Goals

SOMETIMES I DREAM IN ITALIAN starts out just fine-seemingly a poor man's David Sedaris without the babies thrown in the dryer. Uncles who expose themselves and homosexual butchers make up for this lack but while Sedaris' intent is to entertain, Ciresi's seems to be to vent. As children in this fictional collection of short stories, the author and her sister endure their mother's old world ways and their father's smelly feet and stolid demeanor. Liberal Italian phrases are thrown in ("Mannagia, now I've done it.." and "State zitte and eat...") so the territory seems familiar and there seems to be an under- current of love and affection as the girls conclude that an exacta must be a cigar and a trifecta must be three cigars. They plot, plan, gossip, and scheme and the book's cover shows two little hellions in white Communion dresses. Soon enough, the girls, caught between worlds as they are, advance in years without growing up and this is where the stories lost me. As teens they take the trashy path and as adults, they become vicious, jaded and too cynical to really care about. The married one has an affair and attempts suicide and the single author is a modern single woman, unfulfilled by her many conquests. She blames her mother for her unhappy state and, while visiting the woman who is now unresponsive due to a stroke, almost lets the dam of her inner feelings burst. Such vituperation in an adult whose parents really did the best they knew how offends me, as true as the case may be, so this fictional romp of ethnic meandering wound up being too hateful and sour to call enjoyable.

[Sarah Anne Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

With my primarily stoic Germanic, Slavic family background, I am completely unfamiliar with the vibrant Mediterranean cultures and learned a lot from Ciresi. Her strengths definitely include well developed, complex characters and vivid detail. While reading, I also noticed a seemingly interesting blend of a young adult book feel with more adult themes-kind of refreshing! This is a perfect example of one of those books I feel cannot be evaluated in terms of the ending. Growing up in what some of my friends have deemed "the Disney generation" where the heroine lives happily ever after with her prince charming, where all evil meets justice, and where all loose ends of conflicts wrap up neatly in the end, I must admit that this plot doesn't exactly fit this description. While I admit that I had hoped things turned out differently, I also notice a craving for the familiar, for books that portray life as it really is. Ciresi certainly portrays her characters very realistically, and I find this extremely satisfying and believable. Although many previous critics here on Goodreads communicate some dissatisfaction about the novel, I chose to interpret the book's open-ended conclusion more optimistically. I genuinely think as readers mature, we begin to appreciate more ambiguous endings, rather than everything fitting all black and white into neat little compartments. I appreciated the ending because it corresponds with our own lives' ambiguity, and that happy endings may not always fit our expectations or arrive at our own time.

[Gianna]

Sometime I Dream in Italian
Rita Ciresi
224pp
Delta
038533494X

All siblings are jealous of each other and have things against each other. Younger siblings want to be just like their older sibling when they get older. They want everything they have, just so they can make their parents as proud as the other sibling has. Angel Lupo is one of those younger siblings. She wants to be like her older sister Lina.

If you love a classic comedy about sisters, lovers and family you have to readSometimes I Dream in Italian by Rita Ciresi. This book is about any normal siblings trying to help each other accomplish their dreams and helping each other decide what the bad things are and what the good things are.

Angel Lupo wants to fit into her mom’s world. She wants to be a blond movie star and married to the man she loves, just like her sister. She wants to be like Lina who is living with her husband and two kids in a marvelous house. As Angel is almost 30 years old she has basically reached desperation and wants to be married already. So, she answers a personal ad. Even though Lina doesn’t agree she cant say anything because she is becoming involved with an affair herself. Does she go through with this fake marriage? Does her sister stop this affair? Does angel accomplish her big dreams? Pick up the book to find out.

[Maurey Pierce · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book because I am of Italian descent, and even though I was raised by a German/Norweigan mother, I found a lot to relate to. The Italian-specific mentions were fun to read (I loved when they talked about the things they were eating - yum!), but it's the family dynamics that make this book entertaining.

The book jumps back and forth between our protaganist's childhood and adulthood. There are a couple of humorous 30-something dating stories, but the scenes from Angel's tweens and teens are what make the book.

I didn't love this book, and there aren't any profound messages, but I enjoyed it all the same. It's a perfect weekend, feet-up, sitting-in-the-sun read—one you don't have to think about too much.

[Suzanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's not often that I truly DESPISE a novel. This one made the list, however. This story was so depressing and lacking in anything of substance. I kept reading to the end thinking "surely there is something that one of these characters will do that resembles redemption or even a motivating factor for their annoying actions." But I was sorely disappointed. I don't need to read a "happy" novel to think it's good or that it has merit, but there was just nothing interesting here. This novel is just a tale of mean, ugly people doing and saying mean, ugly things to others for no real reason. When I was finished I threw this book away so that my copy will not have the opportunity to waste anyone else's time.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Angel Lupo is still struggling to recover and distance herself from her Italian Catholic upbringing, while simultaneously dealing with her jealousy of her sister's life-husband, house, and children. As she and her sister struggle to come to terms with their present day lives they face some of their biggest obstacles yet.

Told in short story chapters that jump between the past and present, Ciresi's story is the most interesting and entertaining when relating childhood anecdotes of the sisters. The present day lives of the girls are a bit too whiny and depressing, making the characters unlikable. That combined with the open and somewhat unresolved ending make this an okay, but ultimately unsatisfactory read.

[Christy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I loved the first half of this book. It was funny and a great picture of growing up in an italian/american family. Very reminicent of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Her quirky, dysfunctional mom made me laugh and groan at everything she did and said. Unfortunately, she went on to write the second half of the book about her adult life, which was a horribly depressing, hopeless picture that blamed all the dysfunction of the daughters on the parents. I hated it. So if you decide to read this book, I would recommend just reading the first half and stopping when you get to Book Two.

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um, this book was okay...those of you who know me know of my need for closure and this book just kind of...ended. It was really kind of sad--it's a story of sisters who were raised by Italian-Immigrant parents who they were often ashamed of because of their "Old World" ways and I thought it was something they'd overcome and look back on as adults and laugh and realize they'd learned from and maybe even sort of embodied themselves, but they grew up pretty much bitter and unhappy...the book itself has some funny and endearing moments, but on the whole kind of a downer.