Page 3 - Italian-American Herald - May 2023

ITALIAN-AMERICAN HERALD
BOOK REVIEW
Readers will be floored by debut novel ‘Rug Man’
MAY2023 | ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM 3
Vol.10No.5–May2023
A MONTHLY NEWSPAPER SERVING THE ITALIAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY
A DIVISION OF TODAY MEDIA Editor & Publisher Robert F. Martinelli
Vice Pres. Business Development
Charles W. Tomlinson Jr.
Associate Publisher
Barbara Ann Zippi-Och
Managing Editor
Al Kemp
Art Director
Rosalinda Rocco
This issue’s contributors
Julia Calandra-Lineberg Andrea DiFabio Ken Mammarella Jeanne Outlaw-Cannavo Charlie Sacchetti Murray Schulman Tanya Tecce
Lou Thomas Barbara Ann Zippi-Och
Social Media Director
Andrea Di Fabio
Senior correspondent
Jeanne Outlaw-Cannavo
Advertising Sales
Donna Alexander Christina Kelley Pam Mariani Jessica Stryker Tanya Tecce
Audience Development Director
Lisa Bennett
Production Manager
Eric Bolis
Graphic Designers
Carl Bohlin Kyle Manzolillo Natalie Newhart
Editor Emeritus
Joseph T. Cannavo
TODAY MEDIA, A MARTINELLI HOLDINGS LLC
President Robert F. Martinelli Secretary-Treasurer Richard Martinelli In Memoriam
Chairman Angelo R. Martinelli (1927-2018) Vice President Ralph Martinelli (1962-2019)
For advertising information, call (302) 504-1335
or email iahadvertising@todaymediainc.com.
For subscription information, call (302) 504-1274
or email iahsubscriptions@todaymediainc.com.
For editorial, email ItalianAmericanHerald@todaymediainc.com. Published monthly by Today Media, 1000 N. West Street, Suite 601, Wilmington, DE 19801 and distributed
at various locations throughout the Tri-State area.
Contents
The Arts ................................................5 Entertainment.....................................6-7 Achiever ................................................ 8 Local ................................................... 10 In the Region ....................................... 12 News from Italy ................................... 14 Pagina Italiana..................................... 14 The Chef’s Perspective........................16 Dining In and Out................................. 17 Wine....................................................18 It’s All Good.........................................20 Per I Bambini.......................................22 Language ............................................23
Education ............................................ 25 Did You Know? ....................................26
By Al Kemp
It takes a skilled writer to craft an interesting and entertaining tale about carpet installation, but David Amadio has done that and a lot more in his delightful debut novel, “Rug Man.”
Of course, the story here is not just about carpet installation, for Amadio has a larger tale to tell. In its heart, “Rug Man” is about discipline, sacrifice, humility, dedication to craft and the possibility of unexpected grace when one’s world seems to be – um, well – unraveling.
The hero of this unlikely epic is Frank “Ace” Renzetti, a carpet installer in the upscale neighborhoods of Philadelphia’s Main Line for some 40 years. We meet
Ace – who was modeled after the author’s father – as he embarks on a massive carpet job in a gated community in Villanova, Pa. The home is owned by an eccentric divorcee, and its rooms are practically crawling with subcontractors who seem to have been there forever, plus a dog with a nasty habit that involves carpet.
Starting a massive job is the worst possible time for Ace’s back and knees to start to fail. To make matters worse still, he loses both
his helpers to a drug bust. As the challenges mount, it seems Ace’s world is about to crumble, before a potential savior appears in the form of a paperless El Salvadoran.
Amadio (heh heh) weaves this carpet layer’s tale in masterful fashion. The characters – even the most minor – are carefully conceived and fully realized. The storytelling is masterful and rich in clever detail.
The author finds pure poetry in Ace’s observations as he labors on his hands and knees:
Brought low, the carpet installer sees the room on a level unimagined by the resident. He becomes intimate with its forgotten parts, its cable wires and outlets, doorstops and registers. Things present themselves beneath the baseboard: pennies, Q-tips, stamps, Legos. Never anything of value, but then he’s not there in the capacity of an explorer, he’s not down there to make discoveries. Prostrate before
this netherworld of which all but the toes are ignorant, he thinks of himself as a caretaker
of the invisible warden of the dark and dusty corner. The thought brings him neither pride nor honor, just a deeper sense of the mission to leave things as he found them, to act as if he – like the forgotten – were never even there.
And there is something almost Dickensian about Amadio’s multitude of workers who roam the divorcee’s house like lost souls trapped in a nightmare job seemingly with no end in sight. This is the surreal setting
in which Ace serves as a quiet exemplar of true craftsmanship in an on-demand era that values speed, instant gratification and work
David Amadio
that’s merely “good enough.”
The suburban Philadelphia setting of “Rug
Man” springs so colorfully to life that it’s hard to imagine the story told anywhere else. Ace owns a modest split-level in (where else?) Broomall. He keeps his warehouse workshop in (where else?) Upper Darby. And his chiropractor’s office is on (where else?) West Chester Pike.
At 188 pages, “Rug Man” is just as long as its story requires. Rather than carpet-bomb his audience with digressions, Amadio keeps his prose taut and tight, and leaves the reader
The protagonist owns
a modest split-level in (where else?) Broomall. He keeps his warehouse workshop in (where else?) Upper Darby. And his chiropractor’s office
is on (where else?) West Chester Pike.
PHOTO CREDIT DEBRA BURKE
hungry for more. The book is a clinic in story- telling by a writer who has mastered the craft. Amadio teaches creative writing at Lincoln
University near Oxford, Pa. His work has appeared in Cleaver, Packingtown Review, Adaptation, Talking River, Nerve Cowboy, and the San Francisco Examiner. He belongs to a three-man comedy troupe called the Minor Prophets, which has written, directed, and produced over 30 award-winning short films. He lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two children. IAH
“Rug Man” is available at Barnes & Noble and other retailers.