MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW: "WRESTLING WITH THE DEVIL": Like finding an agate among river rocks. (Italian American Immigrant Memoir beats out the competition.)

Wrestling with the Devil
(A Story of Sacrifice, Survival and Triumph from the Hills of Naples to the Hall of Fame)
Antonio Russo and Tonya Russo Hamilton
http://.www.figsandfamiglia.com (Author Website)
Gemelli Press
9600 Stone Ave North
Seattle, WA 98103
http://www.gemellipress.com
Italian American Immigrant Memoir
ISBN 978-0982-102398 (Hard Cover) $28.95  (Paperback) $19.95
ASIN: B008EWZ0TW (Kindle) 
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Wrestling-Devil-Tonya-Russo-Hamilton/dp/0982102399

Marlan Warren, Reviewer for Midwest Book Review (Aug. 2015 Reviewer's Choice)

“I had an outlet for my demons.”
--Antonio Russo, “Wrestling with the Devil”

“Wrestling with the Devil (A Story of Sacrifice, Survival and Triumph from the Hills of Naples to the Hall of Fame)” by Antonio Russo and Tonya Russo Hamilton takes readers along the simple-but-not-easy path that Russo took to Honor and the fulfillment of his Destiny. The father-daughter authors give a rare "insider" view of Italian immigrant experience and one determined man's journey from his cozy Neapolitan childhood to his “Italian American Graffiti-meets-Rebel Without a Cause" adolescence in Portland, Oregon to his rather miraculous college wrestling scholarship and finally, to Russo’s successful coaching career and induction into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

We are treated to a slice-of-Italian-American-Life in the 50s and 60s with all the warmth and family confusion, goodwill, great food and "immigrant drive for success" that such a cultural experience often entails. What adds to this memoir's tenderness and heart, and sets it apart, is the equally touching fact that although it is told in First Person, it is actually written by Russo's daughter, Tonya Russo Hamilton, who has spun a compelling, seamless narrative in her father's voice from what must have been hours and hours of taped anecdotes.