Memoirs of an Italian Geek is a collection of stories that tell the ongoing tale of the childhood and adolescent escapades of a third generation Italian-American Geek as he deals with the tribulations of life, technology, and friendship throughout the last few decades of the twentieth century. Starting with his earliest memories of the golden years, before school began, and on through to his graduation from high school, the endless impact of his friends and family influences continue to keep our Geek in a constant state of change and often confused. Dealing with personal issues and other cataclysmic changes, our Geek learns that not everything can be prepared for, and sometimes the most meaningful changes occur without warning. Confronted with the challenges of academic achievements (or lack there of) and endless extracurricular chaos (usually inspired by girls) our Geek fights a constant battle between trying to stay afloat on the seas of trouble childhood and not drowning in a coming of age riptide. Memoirs of an Italian Geek is the tale of this journey through churning and often unfriendly waters.

“Not at all the usual actor’s memoir, but a simple toast to eating, drinking and innocent merriment in old Umbria.” —Kirkus Reviews Having sent their last child off to college, Michael Tucker and his wife, the actress Jill Eikenberry, were vacationing in Italy when they happened upon a small cottage nestled in the Umbrian countryside. The three-hundred-and-fifty-year-old rustico sat perched on a hill in the verdant Spoleto Valley amid an olive grove and fruit trees of every kind. For the Tuckers, it was literally love at first sight, and the couple purchased the house—without testing the water pressure or checking for signs of termites. Shedding the vestiges of their American life, Michael and Jill endeavored to learn the language, understand the nuances of Italian culture, and build a home in this new chapter of their lives. Both a celebration of a good marriage and a careful study of the nature of home, Living in a Foreign Language is a gorgeous, organic travelogue written with an epicurean’s delight in detail and a gourmand’s appreciation for all things fine. “The ex-L.A. Law star details his and wife Jill Eikenberry’s move to Italy. Viva la dolce vita!” —People “If you’ve ever dreamed of living in an ancient stone villa set high above the Italian countryside—and who hasn’t?—Living in a Foreign Language is a seduction, a warning, an encouragement, and a guide to making a dream come true.” —Mary Doria Russell, author of The Sparrow

National Book Award Finalist • Here is the unforgettable story of the Binewskis, a circus-geek family whose matriarch and patriarch have bred their own exhibit of human oddities--with the help of amphetamines, arsenic, and radioisotopes. Their offspring include Arturo the Aquaboy, who has flippers for limbs and a megalomaniac ambition worthy of Genghis Khan . . . Iphy and Elly, the lissome Siamese twins . . . albino hunchback Oly, and the outwardly normal Chick, whose mysterious gifts make him the family’s most precious—and dangerous—asset. As the Binewskis take their act across the backwaters of the U.S., inspiring fanatical devotion and murderous revulsion; as its members conduct their own Machiavellian version of sibling rivalry, Geek Love throws its sulfurous light on our notions of the freakish and the normal, the beautiful and the ugly, the holy and the obscene. Family values will never be the same.

Alex is an awkward, introverted child growing up in 1970s Berkeley, California - a confusing vortex of shifting values, rampant drug use and social confusion. Misunderstood by his family and taunted mercilessly by classmates, he suffers from a paralyzing lack of confidence and low self-esteem. His existence is made tolerable when he discovers a superhero-like rock band, KISS, which inspires him to learn the guitar. While in high school, he auditions for Legacy - a group of hard partying, working class, twenty-something metalheads from the East Bay suburbs. After recording his first album with the group at age eighteen, he defies his Ivy League parents' rigid academic expectations by forgoing college and hitting the road with metal bands including Slayer, Megadeth, White Zombie and Judas Priest. As his own band, now known as Testament, rises through the ranks of thrash metal, the world begins to take notice of the young guitar prodigy who, despite being fawned over by autograph-seeking metalheads, guitar fanatics and adoring female fans, still feels the pain, awkwardness and ghosts of his past. Soon, a blooming interest in jazz and literature reshapes his values and strengthens his musicianship, bringing further accolades from fans and media but causing resistance and tension from within his inner circle. These experiences cause a realization to unfold: that the scene in which he had first sought his freedom and self-identity is fraught with its own perilous limitations, while the education he'd so fiercely resisted from his family can be invaluable when sought on one's own terms.

A hilarious, heartfelt, and refreshingly honest memoir and New York Times bestseller by the beloved comedic actress known for her roles on Freaks and Geeks, Dawson’s Creek, and Cougar Town who has become “the breakout star of Instagram stories...Imagine I Love Lucy mixed with a modern lifestyle guru” (The New Yorker). There’s no stopping Busy Philipps. From the time she was two and “aced out in her nudes” to explore the neighborhood (as her mom famously described her toddler jailbreak), Busy has always been headstrong, defiant, and determined not to miss out on all the fun. These qualities led her to leave Scottsdale, Arizona, at the age of nineteen to pursue her passion for acting in Hollywood. But much like her painful and painfully funny teenage years, chasing her dreams wasn’t always easy and sometimes hurt more than a little. In a memoir “that often reads like a Real World confessional or an open diary” (Kirkus Reviews), Busy opens up about chafing against a sexist system rife with on-set bullying and body shaming, being there when friends face shattering loss, enduring devastating personal and professional betrayals from those she loved best, and struggling with postpartum anxiety and the challenges of motherhood. But Busy also brings to the page her sly sense of humor and the unshakeable sense that disappointment shouldn’t stand in her way—even when she’s knocked down both figuratively and literally (from a knee injury at her seventh-grade dance to a violent encounter on the set of Freaks and Geeks). The rough patches in her life are tempered by times of hilarity and joy: leveraging a flawless impression of Cher from Clueless into her first paid acting gig, helping reinvent a genre with cult classic Freaks and Geeks, becoming fast friends with Dawson’s Creek castmate Michelle Williams, staging her own surprise wedding, conquering natural childbirth with the help of a Mad Men–themed hallucination, and of course, how her Instagram stories became “the most addictive thing on the internet right now” (Cosmopolitan). Busy is the rare entertainer whose impressive arsenal of talents as an actress is equally matched by her storytelling ability, sense of humor, and sharp observations about life, love, and motherhood—“if you think you know Busy from her Instagram stories, you don’t know the half of it” (Jenni Konner). Her conversational writing reminds us what we love about her on screens large and small. From “candid tales of celebrity life, mom life, and general Busy-ness” (W Magazine), This Will Only Hurt a Little “is everything we’ve been dying to hear about” (Bustle).

"I WISH SOMEONE WOULD KILL YOU!! I WISH SOMEONE WOULD POISON YOU!! I WISH YOU WOULD GET CANCER!!" Thus starts the dramatic flashback retelling of the auther's key life events in From Geek to Chic. In raw and gripping detail, the author recounts the harsh verbal and emotional abuse that he experienced as a child, its life-lasting effects and its impact in the failure of his marriage. Despite the harsh and explicit language and the very honest discussions of sexual, psychological, and spiritual issues, there is a level of humor and gentleness that contrasts with the frank subject matter being discussed. From the depths of despair, through depression, job loss, divorce and fueled by his exquisite emotional agony, the author embarks on a frantic search for meaning and relief from the pain, and tries to discover, through tears and song, a part of himself that he had lost many years ago.

SECOND EDITION -- February 2018 -- Preface to the Second Edition: Since its original publication, I have been extremely gratified by the positive reception the book has received not only from the Italian-American Community but also from the general public. In this, its second edition, I have expanded the original book by adding more stories taken from my parents' memoirs and new stories about growing up in College Point and living in Italy. With a view to making it a more complete resource for Americans with an Italian heritage, I have also further explored Italian-American history, traditions, folklore, and culture. Description of the First Edition: "To know who you are, you need to know from whence you came." This book contains the stories of three generations of Italian-Americans. It represents over one hundred and fifty years of family history. It traces the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of the Baratta family from Padula and the Visco family from Vico Equense, both of whom settled in Manhattan and subsequently moved to Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island. The stories, which were taken from family memoirs and transcripts, are told by those who lived them in their own words and are placed in historical context. The book also includes the memoirs of the author which describe growing up in College Point N.Y. in the 40s,50s, and 60s, going to medical school in Italy and living in that country, finding his roots in his ancestral Italian hometowns, and practicing cardiology in New York City. Profusely illustrated, with maps and photographs on almost every page, this reader-friendly 434-page book, which was five years in the making, is a celebration of Italian-American culture. It explores Italian-American history, traditions, folklore, customs, music, food, values, and humor. The book also contains Italian proverbs and features recipes from Padula and Vico Equense. Please scroll up and buy the book. Enjoy, recall, and relive, depending on your age, the joys of growing up Italian-American in the 40s, 50s,and 60s, try the recipes, and journey with the Viscos and the Barattas as they emigrated from Italy in the early 1900s and made something of themselves and their children in America.