Vertigo

In her no-holds-barred memoir, controversial scholar-critic Louise DeSalvo breaks the traditional silence around life for an Italian American girl in working-class Hoboken, New Jersey. Upon first publication, DeSalvo's memoir -- which sifts through memories of childhood incest, a sister's suicide, and a mother's depression -- enjoyed wide acclaim as an instant classic, written in "one of the most refreshing feminist voices around."

-- San Francisco Chronicle