If you are Italian or ever wished you were, you will love Vino & Biscotti:  Italy to Sonoma County and Back.  In a series of vignettes, Joe Pelanconi uses lighthearted sarcasm in writing of his Italian American upbringing and his many visits with family and friends in Italy   Not meant to be a scholarly work, the book is often heartwarming and funny as hell, giving real life examples how Italians can be witty, cynical, compassionate, charming and exasperating sometimes all at the same time.

 

Vino & Biscotti:  Italy to Sonoma County and Back

By Joe Pelanconi

PWJ Publishing

ISBN 0-939221-24-1

194 pages, perfect bound, 2004

$16.00 pp

 

 

 

 

 

Here's another one!

 

Whine & Crackers:  Musings of a High School Principal    

 

     If you ever went to high school, raised kids or worked in education, Whine & Crackers:  Musings of a High School Principal  by Joe Pelanconi is for you.  Thirty years of stories, anecdotes and excuses are told with humor and clarity.  As Mickey Bitsko, philosospher and friend, says on the back cover, "For those who value educational jargon, gentle sympathy and coddling, or politically correct deals with teachers and staff, avoid this book!  My friend Joe writes about his career with joy, insight, wisdom, compassion, but never caution.  For 20 years, I enjoyed his views on life, family and school; now you can too."  

 

Whine & Crackers:  Musings of a High School Principal

By Joe Pelanconi

PWJ Publishing

ISBN 0-939221-19-5

162 pages, perfect bound, 2002

$19.00 pp