In 1926, Leonard De Fonte came to America from Italy as a seventeen-year old hoping to shake the hand of his screen idol, Rudolph Valentino. Valentino would die before Leonard could achieve his goal but his subsequent life would be guided by his original quest to meet Valentino.

This is Leonard De Fonte's autobiography in which he recounts how he arrived in the United States to shake hands with his "paesano" Rudolph Valentino. An intense, passionate and moving story.