Clocking in at a whopping 420+ pages of exclusive content and glorious color photographs, Rickicello is structured into 7 different parts and 27 chapters, as outlined below:
Introduction
PART I: Mussolini, Mobsters, and the Mystery Man
Chapter 1: Bombs Away
Rick’s grandparents face extreme hardship in war torn Italy, escape to the mob life in New York, give birth to his mother, Nina, and return back to Italy. She then meets Rick’s father, Mico, births three daughters, and sails to America all alone in hopes of bringing them back with her one day.
Chapter 2: Coming to America
Nina survives a long journey across America, settling in San Jose. After months of uncertainty, a mysterious savior pulls a miracle and reunites her with her family… along with a new bundle of joy.
Chapter 3: Everybody Loves Ricky
Years after his parents start their own cobbler shop and add two more siblings, Domenick “Rick” Futia is born. Spoiled rotten, he watches his older sisters get married as his family settles into their new home in San Jose, which quickly becomes Futia Headquarters.
PART II: The Evolution of ‘Sticks’
Chapter 4: Field Trip
Little Rickicello is forced to repeat the first grade after spending a comical, eye-opening several weeks visiting his parents’ homeland in Italy.
Chapter 5: La Famiglia e Tutto (Family is Everything)
A peek into the daily Italian life of huge family feasts, weekly dinner parties full of countless relatives, and the mischievous grade school days of young Rick Futia.
Chapter 6: Trend Setter
Rick enters middle school and quickly becomes the most popular kid on campus, save for a fellow competitive heartthrob who opens Rick’s eyes to a whole new world of hedonism.
Chapter 7: Girls, Girls, Girls
On a magical middle school dance on Valentine’s Day, Rick discovers he wields an amazing gift and superpower that endears him to all the other boys who watch in utter amazement.
Chapter 8: Three O’Clock High
The students at John Muir Middle School conspire to pit Rick against the other top dog on campus, leading to a wild showdown in a shopping center parking lot that no one who witnessed it will ever forget.
PART III: True Pioneer
Chapter 9: “I’ll Show You”
Rick is introduced to the wonderful world of bodybuilding, and his body responds like nothing anybody had ever seen before. Just in time for high school.
Chapter 10: The Pickup Artist
Rick’s superpowers with the opposite sex explode into the stratosphere, leaving behind a wake of humorous, memorable stories with his best friend Glen.
Chapter 11: Fast Times at Pioneer High
Hijinks are taken to new heights, as the late 1970s and early 1980s scene is explored in great detail through a charmed life that only seemed to keep getting better.
PART IV: The Accident
Chapter 12: “Give Me a Dew”
Tragedy strikes our Italian hero, when an innocent soda commercial leads to a horrific accident on the shore of Calero Lake. In a gripping story told by eyewitnesses, we describe in excruciating detail exactly what happened on the fateful day of May 22, 1982 when Rick’s life changed forever in an instant.
Chapter 13: The Aftermath
Continuing the story, Rick waits an agonizing hour in despair as his best friend frantically leaves the scene of the crime to get help. We recount the interminable minutes Rick endured with his friends as the paramedics arrive and cart him away to the local emergency room.
PART V: Rick-covery
Chapter 14: Halo Road
Friends and family give tearful recollections of the early days at the hospital as Rick begins the long road to recovery and coping with his newfound disability. We go deep into his mind and examine his innermost thoughts and emotions during the hardest period of his life and his family’s life.
Chapter 15: Home Sweet Home
After nearly a year in rehab, Rick returns to a newly remodeled home and adjusts to his new daily life, but not before eliciting an emotional, heartfelt standing ovation from his fellow classmates at graduation.
Chapter 16: Pure Bliss
Rick scores one of the most desirable women on campus and begins a long-term relationship that lasts five years. She shares her memories and describes how she helped Rick become more independent and capable of fending for himself.
PART VI: Prime Time
Chapter 17: Free at Last
Fresh off his breakup, Rick joins his nephew for wild nights on the town six days per week. Revisit their hilarious routines as Rick shaves his mustache and enters the prime of his life in the early 1990s.
Chapter 18: The Playboy Diaries
Rick’s nephew gets married, opening a whole new world of adventures for the three of them in Hollywood and all over the Bay Area. Witness sordid tales of ribaldry, fistfights, and rip roaring stories that people still reminisce about to this day.
Chapter 19: The Bodyguards
Coach Rick Futia recruits an all-star team of social superstars, building a cast of interesting, unique characters that reads like the ultimate bachelor lifestyle. Hear their fond memories of meeting Rick and describing typical nights out on the town with the most popular guy in the room wherever he went.
Chapter 20: BABE Hound
Rick catches the eye of a magazine editor who features him as one of the Bay Area’s most eligible bachelors. Grouped in with local celebrities and pro athletes, Rick’s star takes off and brings him an entirely new level of fame and attention. Some of his more memorable romantic partners open up and reveal their feelings and memories of what it’s like to date a local legend like Rick Futia.
Chapter 21: Play That Funky Music
A long line of nieces and nephews shares their funniest, most memorable stories of hanging out with the world’s coolest uncle.
Chapter 22: Yours Truly – Part 1
My own personal memories from hanging out with Rick in the glory days of the late 1990s, including a fascinating instant double date gone awry and his drunken, violent outburst that nearly destroyed our friendship.
Chapter 23: Yours Truly – Part 2
More of my golden memories come to life, this time in the 2000s and 2010s, including the death of Rick’s father, Mico.
PART VII: Modern Day Warrior
Chapter 24: The Royal Roast
In possibly the greatest day of Rick’s life, he celebrates his 50th “surprise” birthday with a huge bash for the ages. We take you behind the scenes of the infamous roast and everything that went into planning it, along with how it all unfolded. Re-live the magical night, joke by joke, that celebrated the man of the hour with an exclamation point.
Chapter 25: The Matriarch
Rick’s siblings grapple with the sad, inevitable decline of their beloved mother, my Nonna Nina. A heartbreaking account of the challenges and squabbles the Futia children suffered through as they said their final goodbyes to the matriarch of our family. We recount the bone-chilling final days of her passing and how it affected everyone, with long forgotten (until now) details of her wake and funeral. Gone but not forgotten, Nina leaves behind an incredible legacy.
Chapter 26: Independence
Rick copes with being on his own for the first time in his life, starting anew with a vast remodel of Futia Headquarters that honors his mother’s legacy but also kicks off a new generation of moments and memories. In addition, we document more belly laughs shared with Rick as he re-enters the social scene and picks up right where he left off.
Chapter 27: Happy Ending
Finally, Rick turns 60 and deals with another major obstacle: rotator cuff surgery. Without use of three of his four limbs, Rick begins another long road to recovery that tests the limits of his siblings and best friend as he rehabs himself back to health. He shows his appreciation with a nod to friendship that shocked his inner circle in its audacity and spirit. A perfect surprise ending to the first 60 years of Rick’s life that puts a cherry on top of a legendary life that still has plenty of gas left in the tank.