East Liberty

Winner of the Carolina Novel Award, this lively coming-of-age tale introduces Bobby Renzo, growing up fatherless in a rough, Italian-American neighborhood in Pittsburgh 40 years ago. At school the nuns worry about his single-parent home, but bobby & his beautiful mother, Francene, are happy. Occasionally she brings a man home & shuts Bobby out, but not often. Most evenings mother & son watch movies on TV & eat snacks from Francene's job at Sear's candy counter. Bobby is happy at school, too, interested in becoming a priest but also driven to commit small crimes with his friends, dream of life as a Big League baseball player & imagine the father he's never known, who Francene won't discuss. Over time, Bobby is forced to confront his situation. His mother is on the outs with her Italian-born parents & this has something to do with his father. His calling to the priesthood is challenged by his awakening sexuality. His world view, shaped equally by old movies & baseball & the teachings of the church, can't be at all "normal." Or can it? In this engaging literary debut, Bobby begins to come to terms with the contradictions that rule his life.Bathanti, Joseph is the author of 'East Liberty' with ISBN 9781889199085 and ISBN 1889199087.