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This first volume of a thirteen-book memoir series opens with the author, now seventy years old, moving through an airport as he travels from America back to the town in Italy from which he immigrated as a child. From there, the author recounts his birth and early years. His birth was difficult, and the doctors told his father he needed to choose whether they should save the mother or the child. In another room, the unborn child's grandmother was praying to St. Catherine to spare them both, vowing to bring the baby on a pilgrimage if both were spared. When the prayers are answered, the vow is kept, and the touching encounter the women and newborn "Santino" have at the shrine is recounted.
The author 's account also shows how life in a small Italian town unfolds and reveals his father's philandering. Santino is part of a quickly growing household with an active extended family. He has a younger brother with digestive issues whose illness wears on the parents' patience and causes them to briefly consider a terrible solution. Overhearing his parents discuss this troubling option causes Santino to change how he interacts with them.
Mallimo's multi-volume memoir is likely inspired by other memoirs published in multiple volumes. Maya Angelo's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is part of a six-volume autobiography. Another well-known autobiographical series is by Frank McCourt, which includes Angela's Ashes and 'Tis. This first volume by Mallimo covers his earliest years in Italy and is reminiscent of memoirs from similar periods, such as Roald Dahl's Boy: Tales of Childhood. Each brings up episodes that can be both revealing and humorous. Mallimo's book often finds humor in various ways. One example is that the first half of this book often uses silly, somewhat adolescent sexual imagery and discussion to keep things light-hearted and show how ordinary people can find humor in everyday life. Also, Mallimo's memoir connects stylistically to Joseph Anton, the first volume of Salman Rushdie's two-volume memoir. Both authors write about themselves in the third person, which is an interesting and less often used point of view in the genre.
Mallimo's style is unique in that the book's presentation hints at his animation work. For example, he refers to this first book as the "Pilot" and divides it into "Acts." This first volume covers the author's life from birth to early childhood. As these things occur before the author has many memories of his own, he tells these learned stories almost in a Dickensian apparition style: "The ghostly image of Santino Bianchi fades away." The author writes in an easy-to-read style and does a good job of creating vivid images of the scenes he shares. The book is fairly short and reads more like a series of vignettes. The included Alter Ego character seems like more of a distraction than an effective literary device. Still, there are some empathetic and insightful looks into the parents and grandparents in this volume. Fans of memoirs or those with similar backgrounds will find this to be a quick and engaging read.