ROCOCO

The hysterics of a middle-aged serial cheater, the gravelly pontifications of a New Jersey parish priest, the meticulous mindset of an interior decorator, the sonorous inflections of a macho local contractor, the take-charge advisories of an international designer, the domineering pronouncements of an autocratic yet lonely widow--these and a cast of others surface full-blown, with hilarity and goodness of heart, in Mario Cantone’s relentless narration of Adriana Trigiani’s latest novel. Cantone takes Trigiani’s story of contemporary (1970s) Italian-American life and injects it with an ineffable joie de vivre--or the Italian equivalent. Hysterics and angst battle for the spotlight, but the ultimate sensibility enveloping the story is abiding love. M.J.B. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 05]