In this remarkable collection of short stories, Joseph Bennardo spins tales based not on whimsical fantasy but on real-life observations and experiences-tales that modern readers can relate to and enjoy. "Yellow Cheese," the title story, offers a glimpse of the world through the eyes of an unsophisticated young boy. He has a close relationship with his aunt, but he questions why she works slavishly to keep her ne'er-do-well, unemployed, unappreciative husband happy. As the boy's awareness grows, he begins to suspect that his cousin, Chiara, is a spoiled brat who is following in her father's footsteps and has mastered the technique of manipulating her mother. Later, after returning from college, he views the world through more mature eyes. He realizes that his beloved aunt is being exploited by her daughter, who has predictably off-loaded the responsibility of raising her two out-of-wedlock children to her mother. He hypothesizes that his cousin has become a "yellow cheese" addict, his metaphor for those who shoulder no responsibility for their conduct and, instead, expect others to facilitate their pursuit of pleasure. Yellow Cheese and Other Short Stories is an intelligent, thought-provoking collection that demonstrates Bennardo's wide range of characters, experiences, and insights.
About the Author: About the Author: Joseph Bennardo was born to Italian immigrants. His mother stressed academic performance and pushed him to graduate from high school shortly after his sixteenth birthday. That same year he enrolled at the City College of New York and went on to graduate in 1958 with a mechanical engineering degree. Subsequently, he earned a master's degree in engineering and an MBA. His career included some interesting work erecting Distant Early Warning radar antennas during the Cold War, working on the Apollo lunar space exploration program in the 1970s, and teaching quantitative analysis at the university level. As a corporate officer for various companies, Joseph traveled extensively in the U.S., Asia, Australia, Mexico, and Europe. He and his wife Gloria reside in a New York City suburb and have raised three children, who, in turn, have added five wonderful grandchildren to the mix. Since retiring, he and Gloria split time between their homes in New York and Florida, and Joseph has gone on to cultivate interests in cooking, tennis, and writing.