Edward Ali

Why is Johnny Screaming?: a Picaresque Novel of a Gay Italian-american Man in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn in the 1960s-1990s Edward Ali

Johnny Spedolini, or as he is called affectionately, "Professor Speedo" or "Johnny Speedo," is a young man from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, who becomes a well-loved teacher in the years of the sixties through the nineties, Johnny is a devoted Catholic Christian and loves his church; he happens also to be gay in a time and place when being gay is not only regarded as a mortal sin, but can, indeed, cost the gay person his or her life. Johnny is certainly pained by the fact of his homosexuality, but even more, he is angered by contemporary religion's attitude toward homosexuality. The story revolves around Johnny's sardonic and angry review of his world, his quixotic railing against injustice in the world and his desire to do good and be helpful to others in this imperfect world. Most of all, the story is about the treasured friendship between Johnny, his student and friend, Joey and Joey's lovely wife-to-be, Angela. The love story of these three seekers after truth constitutes the true heart of the story.