Italian Funerals and Other Festive Occasions

<p>It was fortunate for Giovanni that he didn't discover his family's secrets until now. As an adult he can laugh about it. The Mafia at his doorstep a scary grandmother with special powers and his favorite aunt who knitted him sweaters and smuggled gin: New York in the twenties seemed so normal to the seven year old boy. Now with warmth and humor Mr. Miranda shares not only his family secrets with us but also twelve of his secret family recipes going back five Sicilian generations. Good food and good fun go well together with the bizarre but very real characters in his childhood adventures.<br>Actor and playwright John Miranda (born Giovanni Mercuri Miranda) has had an exciting career in Hollywood and on Broadway but his trip home at Christmas to visit his aging mother triggered a flood of long-hidden memories of his childhood - reality is always more exciting and surprising than fiction!</p>