Description

The Fitzgeralds are buttressed by wealth and privilege, but they are also buffeted by crisis after crisis, many of their own creation. Even so, they live large, in love and in strife, wielding power, combating adversaries and each other. The Good Family Fitzgerald is a saga of money and ambition, crime and the Catholic Church, a sprawling, passionate story shaped against a background of social discord. Padraic Fitzgerald is the up-from-nothing, aging patriarch whose considerable business interests appear anything but legitimate, but he has bigger problems than law enforcement. A widower, Paddy becomes enmeshed with a young woman who will force him to re-examine his cardinal assumptions. Meanwhile, he has cultivated thorny relationships with his four children, all of whom struggle over the terms of connection with their father. Anthony―oldest son, principled criminal defense attorney, designated prince of the family―and his cherished Francesca are devastated by tragedy. In the aftermath, Frankie comes to play a vital role in Fitzgerald lore. Philip is a charismatic Catholic priest spectacularly torn between his lofty ideals and aspirations and his all-too-human flaws and longings. Matty has wandered aimlessly, but once he finds his purpose, he precipitates turmoil in all quarters. Colleen, the youngest, is a seeker who styles herself the outsider and the conscience of the clan. Her hands are full, as no Fitzgerald is left untested or unscathed, and by the end the whole family, as well as those venturing into their realm, will be stunned into illumination.

About the author(s)

Joseph Di Prisco is the acclaimed author of prize-winning poetry (Wit’s End, Poems in Which, and Sightlines from the Cheap Seats), bestselling memoirs (Subway to California and The Pope of Brooklyn), nonfiction, and novels (Confessions of Brother Eli, Sun City, All for Now, The Alzhammer, Sibella & Sibella, and The Good Family Fitzgerald). He taught for many years and has served as chair of not-for-profits dedicated to the arts, theater, children’s mental health, and schools. In 2015, he founded New Literary Project, a not-for-profit driving social change and unleashing artistic power, investing in writers across generations from neglected, overlooked communities. He also directs NewLit’s annual Joyce Carol Oates Prize, awarded to mid-career authors of fiction, and is Series Editor of the annual anthology Simpsonistas: Tales from New Literary Project. Born in Brooklyn, he grew up in Greenpoint and then in Berkeley. He and his family now live in Lafayette, California.