At the Copa
With humor and poignancy, these stories expose the social and sexual turmoil of men and women in"the old age of youth." In "The Knife Lady," a seemingly happily married suburbanite receives a jolt of sexual panic with the visit of a woman selling knives. The husband in "Future Games" encourages his wife to have an affair with another man to save their floundering marriage, and the resulting drama is parsed through the uncomprehending eyes of their young daughter. A restless dentist on a visit to a bizarre charlatan discovers an unlikely cure to what’s ailing him. And in "After Victory" a star-crossed World War II couple meets again after fifty years with stunning results. In "Ticket to Ride," a man evaluates his own collapsing, childless marriage in light of his parents’ sudden divorce announcement. These are a few of the stories whose primary fault zone is the seemingly stable, secretly unhappy middle-class marriage seen from various views.
Formats: Paperback / Audio
ISBN: 1550712594
Reviews
"...Even the most tragic stories float on a solid sense of humor that erupts now and then into a full-scale belly laugh. Labozzetta is an astute observer of life who knows that outside of life's silver linings are roaring thunderstorms, hurricanes and all sorts of unpredictable phenomena."
— Fred Gardaphé in Fra Noi
"...what it does do is gnaw at your soul, makes you stand back and do a personal assessment...Believe me, Marisa is on the mark."
— Jeffrey Griffiths in Front and Centre
"Labozzetta infuses her stories with a wry wit and a subtle, nuanced feel for the shifting emotional currents underlying seemingly placid lives."
— Kirkus
"Labozzetta… praised as a chronicler of Italian-American Life."
— The Valley Advocate
"In At the Copa, she (Labozzetta) is a keen observer of the whole range of American experience…I especially liked ‘Surprise’ in which a wife plans an unusual surprise for her husband who has gone on a one-week camping trip. The final paragraph is a gem."
— Irmarie Jones in The Recorder
"The strength of Labozzetta’s collection lies in her capability of presenting a wide range of realistic characters and incidents. In her mirror held up to human nature each of them reads his/her own story." …(Labozzetta) employs a wide-angle lens, offering a picture of modern American that transcends the invisible boundaries of the ethnic niche…"
— Elisabetta Marino in Italian Americana