D. E. Mungello

The Mungellos (pronounced mun-JEL-os) were Italian-American children of Vesuvius. Raffaele was a builder, Marianna was a businesswoman, Filippo died in a gang murder in Pittsburgh. They fled the threats of the Black Hand, going to a booming coal-mining town and opening movie theaters. Dominic graduated from college during the Great Depression. The shadow of the gang pursued them, leading to labor disputes and arson which destroyed their new theater. On the East and West coasts, Evelyn and Marianne had simultaneous backstreet affairs with powerful and wealthy men. There was a murder trial for the questionable death of an adopted son from El Salvador. At Berkeley, David had an adulterous same-sex love affair with Carl Wittman, a national leader in SDS and Gay Liberation. Their love affairs projected them up the ladder of American success as they damned one another to their deaths. This is a true story.