Roland Merullo
Author of Breakfast with Buddha
About the Author
Roland Merullo is the author of Revere Beach Boulevard, A Russian Requiem, and Leaving Losapas. He lives in western Massachusetts with his wife and daughters
Image credit:
www.vjbooks.com
Series
Works by Roland Merullo
The Delight of Being Ordinary: A Road Trip with the Pope and the Dalai Lama (2017) 86 copies, 5 reviews
Moments of Grace and Beauty: Forty Stories of Kindness, Courage, and Generosity in a Troubled World (2019) 1 copy
Vatican Waltz 1 copy
Last Call 1 copy
La ragazza del lago 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1953
- Gender
- male
- Short biography
- A former writer in residence at North Shore Community College and Miami Dade Colleges, and professor of Creative Writing at Bennington and Amherst Colleges, Merullo has been a guest speaker at many literary events and venues and a faculty member at MFA programs and several writers’ conferences. His essays have appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times, Outside Magazine, Yankee Magazine, Newsweek, Boston Globe, Philadelphia Inquirer, Boston Magazine, Reader's Digest, Good Housekeeping, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. His books have been translated into German, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean and Croatian.
- Nationality
- USA
- Places of residence
- Revere, Massachusetts, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- Massachusetts, USA
Members
Discussions
Ex-pat man lives on remote island then returns to US in Name that Book (July 2016)
Reviews
I requested The Light Over Lake Como because I recently visited and stayed there and thought it unbelievably beautiful. What I did not realize was how drawn in I would become into the story of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, his top aide, his mistress and his crimes against humanity. This was a fascinating read of page turning historical fiction. I listened to the audio book version and absolutely could not stop listening, I wore my ear buds down to zero charge and had to switch to show more head phones! The main story is about a young couple who must separate when Mussolini takes power and sides with Hitler. Sarah is Jewish, pregnant and must flee to Switzerland to save her mother, herself and her unborn child. Her lover Lucu stays behind to join the resistance against the nazis and fascist regimes. Two years later when Sarah hears the rumor that the war is coming to a close she bravely decides to return to Lake Como, Italy via a perilous journey over the mountains with her now 18 month old little girl to reunite with Luca. Luckily she is befriended by a kind and wealthy black marketeer who helps her financially and offers to help her find her lost lover. This novel was extremely well written and researched. I learned so much that I did not know about WWII, especially in Italy. I feel the description and explanation of how Mussolini came to power and kept it as long as he did was fascinating. He truly was a narcissistic cult personality of the era, much like his 'buddy' Hitler. I can highly recommend this work of excellent historical fiction. 5 solid stars.
Many thanks to Net Galley and Brilliance Publishing | Brilliance Audio for an ARC version of this audio book. Much appreciated! show less
Many thanks to Net Galley and Brilliance Publishing | Brilliance Audio for an ARC version of this audio book. Much appreciated! show less
Anthony Benedetto is a sweet kid (almost too sweet) growing up in Revere, Massachusetts. His is a world where his extended Italian-American family is everything. When Benedetto loses both his parents in a plane crash his grandparents are quick to take him in. Recognizing Anthony's sweet nature his grandfather teaches him to play hockey to avoid street fights Anthony would inevitably lose. This love of hockey is the foundation for Anthony's young life and carries him through high school and show more college.
Anthony is also surrounded by aunts, uncles, cousins; an army of people who support him in every possibly way. These characters are not without their flaws and Anthony must navigate his confusion surrounding their actions. An uncle who gambles too much. An aunt who commits infidelity. A cousin who insists on dating the wrong boys. He loves them all, but does not completely understand their self destructive ways.
Merullo's imagery is everything. An example: most people would take the easy route and describe a waning relationship as people "drifting apart." Merullo says "melt" instead. In Revere, In Those Days is beautiful and I cannot wait to read his other works. show less
Anthony is also surrounded by aunts, uncles, cousins; an army of people who support him in every possibly way. These characters are not without their flaws and Anthony must navigate his confusion surrounding their actions. An uncle who gambles too much. An aunt who commits infidelity. A cousin who insists on dating the wrong boys. He loves them all, but does not completely understand their self destructive ways.
Merullo's imagery is everything. An example: most people would take the easy route and describe a waning relationship as people "drifting apart." Merullo says "melt" instead. In Revere, In Those Days is beautiful and I cannot wait to read his other works. show less
Roland Merullo's From These Broken Streets offers a novelization of an interesting episode during WWII. After the execution of Mussolini, the figurehead king from those years negotiated the surrender of Italy to the allies. The Germans occupied much of Italy at the time, so this move to the other side wasn't simple. Germany was determined to hold Italy and increased the pace of its extradition of Jews to death camps and of healthy men to labor camps—and also planned to destroy cities as it show more was forced to leave them. From These Broken Streets is set in Naples, one of those occupied cities, and recounts Italian resistance to the Germans, which came together piecemeal through the efforts of individuals with some coordination from a local mafia boss.
The novel starts a bit slowly, but the characters are well drawn, so as one gets to know them the narrative becomes increasingly engaging. I move steadily through the first two-thirds of From These Broken Streets, then stayed up late to finish the last third in a single sitting. The central characters have complicated relationships with one another, and almost all wrestle constantly with self-doubt, so watching them find the courage to act as they did was a very satisfying experience. The fact that the author leaves loose ends at the novel's close is one of the book's strengths. Readers are left having to ponder the probable end of story elements that remain unresolved—and with the war not yet over and years of recovery to follow, the "story" most certainly wasn't finished after the German exit from Naples.
Of course, this is fiction, not history, so I appreciated Merullo's provision a thoughtful, thorough afterward in which he describes his research into Neapolitan resistance and explains the ways he's compressed the timeline to present events in fiction. This is a title that will appeal to a wide range of readers—WWII enthusiasts, readers of character-driven novels, readers of action novels, and readers of historical fiction. If you know anyone who falls into one of these categories, this book would make a wonderful birthday or holiday gift.
I received an electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley for review purposes. The opinions are my own. show less
The novel starts a bit slowly, but the characters are well drawn, so as one gets to know them the narrative becomes increasingly engaging. I move steadily through the first two-thirds of From These Broken Streets, then stayed up late to finish the last third in a single sitting. The central characters have complicated relationships with one another, and almost all wrestle constantly with self-doubt, so watching them find the courage to act as they did was a very satisfying experience. The fact that the author leaves loose ends at the novel's close is one of the book's strengths. Readers are left having to ponder the probable end of story elements that remain unresolved—and with the war not yet over and years of recovery to follow, the "story" most certainly wasn't finished after the German exit from Naples.
Of course, this is fiction, not history, so I appreciated Merullo's provision a thoughtful, thorough afterward in which he describes his research into Neapolitan resistance and explains the ways he's compressed the timeline to present events in fiction. This is a title that will appeal to a wide range of readers—WWII enthusiasts, readers of character-driven novels, readers of action novels, and readers of historical fiction. If you know anyone who falls into one of these categories, this book would make a wonderful birthday or holiday gift.
I received an electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley for review purposes. The opinions are my own. show less
44 of 75 for 2015. Every now and again a book comes into my possession that I feel is life-changing. Dinner with Buddha fits that description. This was a book I had to read. It's a road-trip book, and I'll admit that I'm a sucker for that genre. Furthermore, it's a road trip book covering roads and places I've seen myself, so I could compare my own experiences with those enjoyed by Otto and Volya. But like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, or The Celestine Prophecy, Dinner with show more Buddha is so much more than a simple narrative of places to go, people to see. I am no Buddhist, nor do I spend much (hardly any) time in meditative practice, but Merullo's story of a North Dakota boy, retired (not of his own choosing) from a successful New York City career, traveling the West with his brother-in-law, a Russian-Tibetan Monk, spoke deeply to me. One example: we talk often of how our diet is so much worse than that of our grandparents (who really didn't know "fast food"). We talk about how our "lifestyle" is not as healthy as that of our grandparents because we sit all day while they were working with their bodies, burning calories and stoking their metabolism. We talk about our attention spans being shorter (especially for our children) because we are constantly bombarded with images through our various media and video games that our forebears did not experience. Merullo brings forth another aspect of loss in our modern lives: the innate meditative experience of repetitive work. Walking behind a horse while plowing a field allowed for an inner communion that even today's farmer doesn't have, riding in his air-conditioned tractor with the sound system playing U-2 (or whatever). Dinner with Buddha is an excellent argument for the need to slow down, experience life, yes, meditate. I heartily recommend this book to everyone! (And for the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge, it's copyright is 2015.) show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.Lists
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- Works
- 32
- Members
- 2,816
- Popularity
- #9,113
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 186
- ISBNs
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