Va Fa Sa: A Young Man's Memoir

Hugo Cipriani's memoir is an engaging story from a first-time author who is now ninety-four but is only twenty-nine at the end of the book. He begins his story on September 9, 1934, a "most fateful day" of his life. On that day, the author left his hometown, his family, his job, his friends, and his girlfriend. The words Va Fa Sa translate simply as "you go, you do, you know." These pages are filled with the author's overriding theme that "the secret of happiness is freedom and the secret of freedom is a brave heart." Mr. Cipriani proves this to be true, as he warmly presents his many adventures. His journey in August of 1938 is quite inspirational. Although he was a transient and homeless, within five weeks he is at UCLA filling out an application form. Fate and destiny may have brought him to UCLA but he knew it was his own proverb Va Fa Sa that got him enrolled and pulled him through.