Toni Cade Bambara's One Sicilian Night

The Conception of a Great Love-"The process by which a great love begins is as hidden as the birth of the universe or the conception of a human being. Here Anthony Valerio, who has lived it, allows us to see it without violating its mystery. This is his story of the improbable but profound recognition that ignited between him -- an "Olive" man, Italian-American writer -- and the acclaimed, doomed Black novelist and activist Toni Cade Bambara. It is so delicate, touching, suspenseful -- I hardly breathed the whole time." "amba12" (New York, NY USA) "Anthony Valerio is in top form in this moving, funny non-fiction novella about the improbable relationship between two middle-aged writers, one Italian American, one African American, both memorable characters whose romance is one for the ages. Valerio has a gift for insight into human emotion. He taps into his characters marrow, their history, aspirations, frustrations, and hopes, as if they were (and here they sometimes are) his own." --G. Guida, professor, CUNY "The substance of this memoir is what makes us human when we come home from struggling in the world. Valerio gives us home as the heart within the heart, the place that is both vulnerable and free. Moreover, it is the place that is true." --Afaa Weaver--author & scholarOne Unforgettable Night"A tender, funny, ironic, and revealing book, about unexpected encounters, emotions that can take us unaware, and how dislocations from our usual surroundings to unknown places and people can teach us about our lives. Valerio writes with a light and deft touch, but what he recounts is heart-felt and very real." Professor Rebecca West, University of Chicago