De Lillo’s Mini Sfogliatelle and Pellegrinos: My Italian-American Addiction
How a landmark pastry shop became an oasis of creative essay writing, one vowel at a time
I will be honest with you, the intersection of 187th St. and Arthur Avenue in the Bronx has become the center of the Italian-American universe for me, and considering the frequency with which I visit the area, it is close to being a personal addiction. For me, the Belmont area of the Bronx is a place of emotions, and rich memories that span decades and cover generational stories. In the 1920’s, my great aunt called it home as well. She use to tell me about how a quarter would get her into the legendary RKO theater on Fordham Road at a time when Rudolfo Valentino, sex symbol of the silent movie era, captivated and mesmerized female audiences, including young, Italian seamstresses like her, who years earlier, had landed on Ellis Island.
Later In the sixties my olive-skinned, highly talented, artisan father also called the Belmont section of the Bronx his first US home. And did so before I was even born. I suspect that our family was one of the early beneficiaries of a national policy change on immigration, the National Immigration Act of 1965, which opened up the doors for broader immigration from Europe, including Southern Europe, for that group…
