Unto the Sons

“A dazzling self-examination on a large canvas. Perhaps nobody but Talese, a demon for research and a natural storyteller, could have pulled it off.…  Unto the Sons is thick with revealing incident and colorful character.”

—People

“A wonderful and unforgettable book and I think the finest work he’s produced in his remarkable career. Mr. Talese has taken the raw material of his own family’s migration to America and turned it into epic dimensions. He turns the story of his Italian family into one of the most quintessentially American stories ever told. Unto the Sons is a love song to the courage of immigrants and the continuing power of the American dream.”

—PAT CONROY

“Gay Talese has spoken often of his debt to Fitzgerald, Cheever, and other modern masters of fiction; and in this book he makes a grand leap into the form, bringing the characters of his father, himself as a boy, and their ancestors in Italy to vividly dramatic life with novelistic storytelling. It is a compelling use of the form by Talese, who, as he has proven again and again with his books, is a master of the narrative art. With this new work he delves into the souls of his people to tell a universal story we haven’t heard before; and the consequence is a wonderful book.”

—WILLIAM KENNEDY