Verdi: Aida

William Fissinger, the author of a novel," Dance at Bougival," moves to memoir with "In the Days Before Money," contrasting, in prose and poetry, the world in which he grew up with the "other America" in which marginalized people struggle for their daily existence. Fissinger brings to the task the experience of living and working for a year as a Jesuit Volunteer in the inner city, where poverty, drug and alcohol abuse and mental illness are the order of the day, as well as serving as Court-appointed special advocate for abandoned and abused children (CASA) and a mentor for jail inmates seeking high school equivalency degrees. Told with understanding, warmth and humor , "In the Days Before Money" presents a vision of reality as well as hope for the future of America.