Pastina - My Father's Misfortune My Mother's Good Soup

<p>The memoir charts the young life of a boy who grows up in a peasant family in Long Island City Queens New York and traces his development until he reaches age fourteen. A father's abusive drinking womanizing and disrespect for family values and safety is assuaged by his mother's cooking and nurturing hand.</p><p></p><p>The book's inciting incident revolves around the father's giving up the family apartment to a local bookie to satisfy a gambling debt. And soon after the father must escape to California while leaving the family behind to deal with the bookies harassments and threats. </p><p></p><p>Eventually the family escapes to join the father in California but the father's habits force the mother to cut him out of their lives for good</p>