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Rating: 
Summary: transcended
Review: Maggio's words sent me to a time and place that my thoughts could not imagine without a guide to show the way. The startling contrast between the ritual of the tuna slaughter and life in my cozy home nestled by a roaring fire are apparent from the opening pages. A true adventure that reads like a fictitious novel of love for the life and life for the love of a bloody massacre few have witnessed. Sushi? Is it a non-fiction? Is it an advertisement for the gourmet market? Is it a traditon that will endure? Without Maggio's persistant journeys to the site of the tonnora and the substance of a writer without limits, this work would not have traveled to my hands and through my mind.
Inspirational story-telling by an artist that paints through words and colors with the culture and rich tradition of a brutal ritual.
Thank You Ms. Maggio for giving my dreams substance and a sicilian fantasy.
jackie farrow
Rating:
Summary: transcended
Review: Maggio's words sent me to a time and place that my thoughts could not imagine without a guide to show the way. The startling contrast between the ritual of the tuna slaughter and life in my cozy home nestled by a roaring fire are apparent from the opening pages. A true adventure that reads like a fictitious novel of love for the life and life for the love of a bloody massacre few have witnessed. Sushi? Is it a non-fiction? Is it an advertisement for the gourmet market? Is it a traditon that will endure? Without Maggio's persistant journeys to the site of the tonnora and the substance of a writer without limits, this work would not have traveled to my hands and through my mind.
Inspirational story-telling by an artist that paints through words and colors with the culture and rich tradition of a brutal ritual.
Thank You Ms. Maggio for giving my dreams substance and a sicilian fantasy.
jackie farrow
Rating: 
Summary: The ability to write well goes a long way
Review: This book is very well written; it's almost poetic with the lyrical descriptions and vivid images that Theresa Maggio creates with her words. The author also eloquently captures for her readers the conflicting emotions she experienced as a modern American woman viewing unfamiliar cultural practices and dealing with an ancient Sicilian way of life. This against the backdrop of loving the people (and one man in particular) and exploring her heritage as a grandchild of Sicilians. She writes with a sadness and shares a sense of loss with the people as old traditions fade away; the ancient way of fishing for instance - MATTANZA - the bluefin tuna fishing ritual that is dying out as modern fishing methods intrude. In the best traditions of good travelogues the book paints a sensitive and romantic portrait of traditional cultures; we are invited to feel a poignancy about the inevitable losses that changes through modernization brings. The author in describing her man says "he was a good man in a dying trade, a fisherman to the core of his soul. His boat, his nets, and the sea were his life." Writing style and attention to culture - the hallmarks of a good travelogue being present - what then is the problem with the book? The truth is that the cultural practice itself is not one that we develop much sympathy for. MATTANZA, although certainly not a glorification of death, and steeped as it is in religious symbolism, nevertheless is shown up as a bloody ritual, and more unfortunately for the book, a rather senseless one. Maggio describes the scene around the trap. "The net was drawn taught, and they skittered in front of us, half out of the water...The fish were as big as men...I remember the din, the thunder of falling water, and their frantic thrashing. They darted to the corners of the net, but there was no way out...when the thrashing calmed they were battered, bleeding and floating on their sides, but they were still alive...this killing went on for an hour, the blue square turned red. When the last fish was taken the currents cleared the square of the blood and milky water that clouded it." Not exactly a practice that has much to recommend it. Even if you wished to take a principled stand and say 'I can't pass judgement on other peoples cultural practices,' the book sets itself up for just this sort of criticism where, after the Mattanza, Maggio says "the tourists...were towed back to port." Now we see the reality. This ancient traditional cultural practice, steeped in religious symbolism, is not so precious afterall. It has allowed itself to be bastardized into a blood-sport tourist attraction in order to make a few dollars. This admission, and the failure of Maggio to contrast the traditional practices with even more exploitative, modern commercial fishing activities, leaves the spotlight firmly on MATTANZA; and unfortunately for the book wheras the writing style shines, the cultural practice it describes does not.
Rating:
Summary: life, blood, and sweat...
Review: this was a great read. this woman can really write well.
I loved her descriptions of these fisherman. Made me wish
I wasn't married. I'd go over there and get me one!
great descriptions!
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