Posts Tagged 'Canio Pavone'

If It Weren’t For Joe Pintauro…

Tracing a line from cause to effect can be an inexact pursuit. Serendipity is hard to map. But we know for sure there’s a meandering path from creative inspiration to published book, to reader, to bookshop owner beginning with one novelist Joe Pintauro whose books Snow Orchid and Cold Hands led one reader, Canio Pavone  to visit Sag Harbor one ambling  afternoon. Canio wanted to see the town Joe had written about. What Canio saw that day as he drove through village streets and down to the harbor, was a “For Rent” sign in an empty storefront window at 290 Main. The rest of the story spins out from there, and is still being written.

So it was with particular sadness that we, along with nearly the entire East End arts and literary community, marked the passing of Joe Pintauro, novelist, playwright, poet, priest, photographer and more. Our condolences to Joe’s husband and partner of 40 years Greg Therriault, to his family and to his many friends far and wide.

Who’s that cute little clown?

If you’ve seen our logo, an adorable clown banging a large drum and standing atop a pile of books, you may have wondered who he is….Opera lovers likely will recognize the billowing costumed figure as Pagliaccio, a character from the commedia dell’arte. The great Enrico Caruso is perhaps best known in the role in Leoncavallo’s popular opera, Pagliacci. Stepping further into the story, the actor who plays Paglicaccio in this play- within- a- play is named Canio. From here we direct you to read a bit of our shop history at our website’s homepage, http://www.caniosbooks.com. Our founding owner is Canio Pavone! Ecco la! There it is! Canio’s wife, the artist Nohra Barros created the design back in 1980 when the shop first opened. While we often have opera playing in the shop, and sometimes even Pagliacci, particularly on Sundays…there’s always good music in the shop, as well as our hand-selected collection of books. We have a particular interest in books by Italian authors, Italian history, literature and culture, keeping the best of that tradition and heritage alive. That little clown, Pagliaccio, reminds us of the source of much of our inspiration.


Canio’s Books is located at 290 Main Street, Sag Harbor, NY 11963, 631.725.4926. Call or email us, caniosbooks@verizon.net. While we love you to SEE you, you can also order new titles at our online storefront or some of our second hand inventory HERE. Thanks for visiting!