Joseph Torra
THEY SAY

Quale Press
ISBN 10: 0-9792999-0-X
ISBN 13: 978-0-9792999-0-2
Paper, 172 pp., 5x7
$15

They Say is a novel about a working-class, first-generation Italian family living in the Boston area in the first half of the 20th century, centering on the family’s struggles over oldest brother Louie, whose early artistic genius and political passions deteriorate into delusion and severe mental illness. Narrated by various siblings in this sprawling family, their stories have the intimacy and drama of a conversation told around the kitchen table—and like any living, breathing family tale, the brothers’ and sisters’ stories intersect, run parallel, contradict each other, fill in each other’s gaps. Theirs are stories of love and luck, as well as poverty, death, illness, and domestic abuse. 

Praise for Joseph Torra’s previous publications:

“If words were lug nuts, he’d spin them in ways the guys down at the garage never dreamed of.” —New York Times Book Review

“A brilliant read.” —Esquire

“. . . brings it all back to where it came from.” —Robert Creeley

“The way Mr. Torra flows from one event to another, to a memory, to an observation is quite an accomplishment... this book is always a joy to read.” —Hubert Selby Jr.

“[Part of a]n entire prose tradition that includes everyone from Kerouac to Creeley to Melville . . .” —Ron Silliman

Joseph Torra lives in Somerville, Massachusetts, and is a poet, novelist and editor. He has published four novels, Gas Station, Tony Luongo, My Ground, and The Bystander’s Scrapbook, and many books of poetry including Keep Watching the Sky and After the Chinese. He edited and published lift magazine and serves on the editorial board at Pressed Wafer Press.

FICTION