The Secret of Santa Vittoria - Robert Crichton --------------------- 3.5 Stars

I would have never picked up (or even known about) The Secret of Santa Vittoria but a coworker mentioned it is their favorite book, so I thought I'd give it a try. And I'm not really joking about not knowing about it; this book was certainly not on my radar. Even more amazing, it was incredibly hard to find. The giant library system I borrow from didn't have one physical copy, and I had to use a different online app than normal. But was it worth finding, yeah, pretty much!

Since it's a fair assumption you don't know of the book, quick AI synopsis: "The Secrets of Santa Vittoria by Robert Crichton tells the story of an Italian hill town that, during World War II, unites to hide a million bottles of wine from the occupying German army. Through humor, courage, and cunning, the villagers—led by the unlikely hero Italo Bombolini—defy oppression and celebrate the resilience of the human spirit." I basically knew about that much going in too, and it was a really enjoyable read. 

There were a number of things I really enjoyed about the book. First, it was a bit of a mix of both romance, war story, and dark comedy. I thought the author did a great job moving through all different types of storytelling throughout the book. Second, because the book was many years old, it had a feel of almost from another time period of living. What I mean by that is, it felt like a book wreaking of nostalgia. And while the book had many difficult parts to get through (violence, torture, assault, etc.), the way the story is told makes it feel more wholesome than I was actually going on. In some ways it reminded me of the movie, It's a Wonderful Life. Finally, it's simply a great story. As a description above explains, it really does show off the best of humanity and there were multiple parts I found myself smiling about what took place.

There were some drawbacks, however. While not a long book, I did find there were parts that got a bit boring and slow. I found some of the characters either unnecessary or unsure why they were given parts in the story. And, as it's alluded to above, they really were some parts that were hard to stomach and read; not surprising, though, considering it's a book taking place in the middle of World War II.

As I'm quite certain most people reading do not know of this book, I would recommend at least considering it. Though it was written all the way back in 1966, it did spend nearly a year on the New York Times best seller list. Yet, it's still quite unknown at this point. I think there's also a very good movie based on the book, though I have yet to see it. Perhaps I'll have to give it a look; would imagine, like this book, I'll be pleasantly surprised

I did.

The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream Paperback – Patrick Radden Keefe ------------- 3 Stars

In the last year or two, I inadvertently became a giant fan of the Patrick Radden Keefe, as this is now the fourth of his books I've reviewed. I also recently enjoyed a great podcast of his titled Wind of Change, which I highly recommend. As I've really been enjoying his recent work, I thought I'd go back and pick up one of his earlier books, written over a decade ago. The Snakehead was an engaging and interesting book, but I didn't find it as strong as his more recent efforts.

As you may not be able to tell by it's extended title, this book is mostly about illegal Chinese immigration in America, peaking the '90s and 2000s. This book goes into great depth, sharing more about the push factors leading to thousands leaving China and the significant increase in criminal activity helping to find pathways to hep these immigrants to America.

The book was similar to many others I've read by Radden Keefe - focused on criminal elements while providing a superb explanation of complexity. This introduced a variety of content that was quite new to me, so I appreciated how easy it was to access. Perhaps most interesting was simply the story at the heart of the book: the desperate plight people are willing to go through to land in America. Until reading a book like this, I truly had no idea how much people are/were willing to endure to be in the USA.

I also learned much more about China, Chinatown (in NYC), the criminal element, and immigration policies. The latter is especially topical now with all that is going with ICE and other government agencies currently in our country. Perhaps most stark were the descriptions of differences between the lives that many have in other countries and the opportunities that are present in America. This book certainly made me realize just how much we often take for granted when we are born American.

While I liked many parts of this book, I struggled with a few areas. Perhaps most notable was the length and depth of this book. I was thinking on multiple occasions how this book would have been better served by a more willful editor (this was not something I recall thinking with this other books). Besides the nearly 70+ pages of footnotes, I found multiple chapters simply too long or not necessary at all to deliver the most crucial aspects of
the story. In the last third, the book really turned from being a story about a few key characters to, almost a textbook style, dedicated to explaining and detailing varying aspects of America's immigration policy. My other challenge with the book is simply the number of characters he covered. Again, illustrating the point about needing a good editor, it was hard to follow all the threads throughout the the story. 

Overall, this is a super, albeit long book that really does provide an interesting slice of history detailing illegal immigration from China in the early part of this century. While I found it more complicated than necessary, I still found much of the book fascinating and a rich read. I certainly recommend for those who enjoy this author.