The Supreme Macaroni Company: A Novel

Well, I waited with the rest of you for the next (and hopefully "last") Valentine book. It was NOT worth the wait. Essentially, the first 150 pages were recap. Reintroduction of characters (some who weren't in the plot), retrospective on the other books ... and tons and tons of quips and cutsy things about Valentine's family. The books SAGS with unnecessary references to Valentine's family and their idiosyncrasies. It's not that I dislike the Italian-American or New York references ... it's simply that they comprise about 75% (or more) of the book.
So actual plot begins about page 150 ... or the honeymoon. Valentine turns into a raging ... I don't think I'm allowed to say it. Let's just say that Valentine cares much more for herself, her family/friends, and her job ... than her husband. As glowing as the story depicts Gianluca (the husband) - he is pretty much kicked to the curb, and by the end of the book, you realize how little you even got to know him.
So long we waited for "The Supreme Macaroni Company," and it feels like it was simply slapped together.
You don't need to read this.

This is the third book in the series. Valentine accepts Gianluca’s proposal and has her wedding. Instead of a fairytale happy ending, she struggles with her independence and how to come to terms with being married and the compromises it requires. She also has challenges with the shoe business when she must find a new manufacturer, finally deciding to take the plunge into running the manufacturing as part of their business. Valentine enlists family and extended family support to make this work, finally finding an old pasta factory as the location (the Supreme Macaroni Company in the title). When she becomes pregnant, she worries that Gianluca may not want to start a family, especially when his grown daughter is expecting her first child. When tragedy strikes, it almost destroys her, but Valentine slowly and painfully finds a way to keep moving forward.

I have read most of her other books and always enjoyed them but this was too narcissistic. We also are part of an Italian family but this is like nothing we are familiar with.....maybe it is the east coast Italian culture.
For the first time in a long time I did NOT finish a book.

I was so excited to get back to this family that I fell in love with in Very Valentine and Brava Valentine. I even went and reread the first two books before jumping into this third one. I couldn't believe the difference. The characters became caricatures. the dialog was halting, there was little flow to the story, the details of the shoe-making and business were forgotten, and the character I fell in love with (even with her faults), Valentine, became a character I no longer even liked. Like others have said, the book was sad. I could have been happy with a sad plot, but the writing felt careless and felt like Trigiani just wanted to be done with this series as soon as possible and didn't bother giving even a tenth of her normal effort. I wish I had just left the story after the end of Brava Valentine to my imagination.

After reading Adriana Trigiani's novel [[ASIN:0061257109 The Shoemaker's Wife: A Novel]], I swore I would not read another of this author's offerings--well, I really mean it this time . . . "The Supreme Macaroni Company" is the third episode in the author's Valentine trilogy (let's hope its a trilogy and the depressing saga ends here). Not only does Trigiani capitalize on her version of the Italian American modern day family, she rams that vision down her readers' throats with enough one-liner jokes, I was wondering throughout the presentation (I listened to the unabridged audio book edition) when Henny Youngman and the ubiquitous drum roll would make an on-stage appearance. I watched this author narrate part of the PBS [[ASIN:B00R041G66 Italian Americans]] and after hearing her thoughts on the assimilation of Italian Americans into the American mainstream as depicted in her novels, I admit to discrediting the entire production and its theme of family-first isolationists as sadly ridiculous and certainly not a depiction of my own quest as a third-generation Italian American to become a full-fledged American.

The Italian-Americans that Trigiani uses as her key characters are pathetically two-dimensional. Anyone spending time alone with Valentine's Aunt Feen (sic) character would have acid-reflux after listening to this bitter woman lament her depressing life. Her mother is no better, dressing to the nines and deferring references to her "certain age" with the silliness that gives credence to hundreds of French-women-know-best books. The ridiculous in-fighting on the "Night of the Seven Fishes"--should not be celebrated--its "agita"-inducing--the wedding at Leonard's Great Neck (did Trigiani get a kick-back?) with its world-food tables???? UGH! More AGITA! All the name-dropping references to the medical profession, fashion houses, celebrities and morning television shows are an embarrassment--indicative of a herd-mentality that votes in a block with none of the self-reliant pioneer spirit that should, after four generations of assimilation be a part of the hybrid mindset. One of the narrators in the PBS "The Italian-Americans" documentary commented on the association with his family and the media depiction of the Italian-American affiliation with the mob and other Soprano-like activities by shaking his head and refusing to relate to it all. As far as Trigiani's view of the Italian-American family is concerned, I refute it as ignorant. If my fourth-generation family behaved in any way like the fictional Roncalli family, they would promptly be disowned.

Worst of all is the de-evolution of main character and first person narrator Valentine. In the first book, [[ASIN:0061257060 Very Valentine: A Novel]], perhaps she was a new and novel character that was not afraid to laugh at her too-tightly bound roots and defy tradition to actually head up her own business. Perhaps she was a funny character worthy of my time. However, in [[ASIN:B0091ME8DI Brava, Valentine: A Novel]], what was once amusing became tired. Even so, Trigiani had piqued an interest in this character's outcome and I intrepidly read on, even though the silly jokes became obnoxious and the over-the-top characterizations morphed into cartoons. In this offering, Valentine bites off more than she can chew and then continually whines about her status. Will she be a good wife? Will she be a good mother? Why is it that she is becoming a grandmother at the same time she is becoming a mother? How will she deal with her step-daughter? Should she move to Italy? Can she ever leave her life on Perry Street? Should she defer to her husband in matters of the business? Blah, blah, blah. Are there any actually examples where Valentine puts all this angst to some practical worth? Not really. And after the reader decides that Valentine is just a selfish brat, who cares? Trigiani thinks that the Roncalli brand of intrusive "love" makes everything all right--like the spoonful of sugar in the Disney song in Mary Poppins--except with this group, two or three bags are added to her macaroni/spaghetti "gravy" to make bad nutrition palatable. With the addition of all her saccharin-y melodramatic conclusions, what would have made more sense would have been to have Valentine end up like Amazing Amy in Gillian Flynn's [[ASIN:0307588378 Gone Girl]]--a sociopath with a real agenda--not a whining pushover adding sugar to her tomato sauce.

Trigiani's depiction of New Orleans--where Valentine spends her honeymoon is fraught with more two-dimensional caricatures. Why would Valentine fall in love with beignets when she's been eating zeppoles her entire life? Huh? Sorry, the street cleaners after Mardi Gras do a very good job of cleaning up the strewn beads and the rest of the debris on Bourbon Street--Trigiani's pathetic wallowing may enhance the depression of the character and her endless questions, but it does not realistically illustrate the handle the city of New Orleans has on one of its major tourist events.

Even more disappointing was the audio presentation where the reader succeeded in crafting all her characters either with a bad Italian accent--in the case of Gianluca (sic) or an all out Jewish accent--Gabriel's voice is the worst offender here. Valentine's mother a close second and Aunt Feen--Good God! I wanted to fast-forward through any of her fatalistic opinions so fast I practically moved through the entire novel---without missing any of it! "The Supreme Macaroni Company" is like a soap opera--if you miss a year of its telecasts, it will only take a few seconds to catch up. What a waste of time.

Bottom line? "The Supreme Macaroni Company" will be my last read by Adriana Trigiani. This author should be ashamed of her depiction of an Italian-American family. Hopefully, she and her editor retire any future Valentine-themed installments! Whatever happened to the author of [[ASIN:0812967798 Lucia, Lucia: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle)]]? At least in that novel, she had something to say instead of depicting an entire culture as a mob-scene at the circus. NOT Recommended.
Diana Faillace Von Behren
"reneofc"

As for the book coming from Amazon, it was wonderful. As for the book itself, by author Adrianna Trigiani, who is my all time favorite, I felt the story was not complete, and choppy in some chapters. She also seemed like she rambled on in details alittle too much, Also, she makes the main character seem angry all the time, too much worry. Very upset about the other main character and his turn of events. Why????? I usually read her books and come away with a "feel good" vibe afterwards, and rave about it to my peers, but not this one. I was so doom and gloom. No characters seemed happy, either. Why did she even bother with this one? I have to re-read the Big Stone Gap series again. and I LOVE Adriana Trigiani to death.

This was my first Trigiani book and will most likely be my last. It was so boring I almost didn't finish. The main character, Valentine, was not someone I found very endearing. She came across to me as wishy-washy and just plain dull. I also feel the writer tried to hard to play up the Italian family experience and it resulted in overkill. I found this one to be a dud.

This novel began with much humor. I loved the "dry" sarcasm, and the pathetic descriptions of her Italian/American life. It was a truly enjoyable romantic comedy, but all too quickly dissipated. Valentine was very successful, talented, somewhat insecure, and spoiled. Gianluca was very mature, classy, stable, and wise. Valentine was totally self-centered and was determined marriage would not change anything in her life...she just would no longer be alone nor expected to drop everything to assist another family member.

This was an engaging, yet circumventing story with romance, compromise, adversity, family tradition and ties. It often provoked conflicting emotions.

The three problems I had with this book was #1. The humor was not maintained in Valentine's personality. It seems the girl at the beginning of the story is very different from the one through the rest of the book...I( know...she may be bi-polar). #2. The profanity and some crude language did not fit the proper Italian scene nor was it appreciated by this reader. #3 The ending died down to detached from the story and the title. It did nothing to vindicate the title as a good pick for the story line.

It still merited a weak Four Stars rating.

*I was gifted this book for an honest review, of which I have given.

I really loved the first two books in this trilogy, especially the first one, but like many others here, I wish I'd skipped this last book. The other two books left me wanting to vacation in Italy and eat pasta and hang out with the entertaining Roncalli family. Not so with this one, it just left me feeling very depressed and irritated with Valentine. A big let-down in this trilogy for sure.

Haven't read it yet, but wondering what you call the pages in a book that are ragged. This edition of Trigiani's book has it?. I read somewhere what it was called and now can't remember and it's driving me crazy! ;) tried the web and can't find it. Thx.