BocelliOnline

[Winnie]

This book list needs updating and includes some works already mentioned in this forum, but perhaps it will be useful. Winnie

1. Aust, Derek, with Mike Zollo. Italian Language Life & Culture. Chicago: NTC, 2000.
The authors provide a useful and interesting quick overview of Italy’s culture, government, and history—with some Italian vocabulary thrown in.

2. Barzini, Luigi. The Italians. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1964.
Barzini presents his impressions of the strengths and weaknesses of the people in his native Italy and includes a consideration of why Italy has attracted droves of foreigners throughout the centuries.

3. Beevor, Kinta. A Tuscan Childhood. New York: Random House, 1993.
Beevor's parents—artist Aubrey Waterfield and writer Linda Duff Gordon—buy a fortress in northern Tuscany at the time of the First World War.

4. Cahill, Susan, ed. Desiring Italy. New York: Fawcett, 1997.
Twenty-eight women writers from the past and present describe the appeal Italy holds for them.

5. Calcagno, Anne, ed. Italy: True Stores of Life on the Road. Redwood City: Travelers' Tales, 1998.
Calcagno gives excerpts from about 50 works on Italy—including some of those listed here.

6. Cornwell, John. A Thief in the Night: Life and Death in the Vatican. New York: Penguin, 1989.
Cornwell explores the mysteries and machinations surrounding the death of Pope John Paul I.

7. Epstein, Alan. As the Romans Do. New York: HarperCollins, 2000.
Epstein entertainingly describes the daily life of Rome, a city he loves and therefore adopted by settling there in 1995 with his wife and young sons.

8. Flower, Raymond, and Alessandro Falassi. Culture Shock! Italy. Portland: Times Editions, 1995.
This book provides an overview of Italian customs and etiquette—from body language to tips for those doing business or settling in Italy.

9. Gendlin, Frances. Culture Shock! Rome at Your Door. Portland: Graphic Arts Center, 1997.
This book provides useful information—such as an overview of Rome’s neighborhoods and advice about where to shop and eat—for visitors as well as for new long-term residents.

10. Harrison, Barbara Grizzuti. Italian Days. New York: Atlantic Monthly, 1989.
Harrison adds extensive historical background to her travel account.

11. Hofmann, Paul. The Seasons of Rome. New York: Henry Holt, 1997.
Longtime Rome resident and journalist Paul Hofmann presents a yearlong journal of Roman life.

12. Hofmann, Paul. That Fine Italian Hand. New York: Henry Holt, 1990.
This description of Italian ways covers everything from the history of pizza to the "art of arrangement" (arrangiarsi).

13. Hutchinson, Robert J. When in Rome, A Journal of Life in Vatican City. New York: Doubleday, 1998.
Hutchinson combines fascinating facts within humorous anecdotes.

14. James, Henry. Italian Hours. Ed. John Auchard. New York: Penguin, 1992.
James’ wide-ranging essays about his travels in Italy cover the period 1872 to 1909.

15. Leavitt, David, and Mark Mitchell. In Maremma: Life and a House in Southern Tuscany. Washington: Counterpoint, 2001.
In a variation on similar accounts, two American men buy an old farmhouse together.

16. Levi, Carlo. Christ Stopped at Eboli. Trans. Frances Frenaye. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1974.
First published in 1947, Christ Stopped at Eboli is Levi’s account of the time he spent in the remote southern Italian region of Lucania, to which he was banished because of his stance against Fascism.

17. Máté, Ferenc. The Hills of Tuscany. New York: Norton, 1998.
A couple buys a small farmhouse in rural Tuscany and enters actively into daily life. The book is full of humorous, beautiful, and entertaining descriptions.

18. Mayes, Frances. Under the Tuscan Sun. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1996.
In the course of buying and restoring a large abandoned villa, an American couple discovers the joys, beauty, great food (recipes included), and idiosyncrasies of daily life in Tuscany.

19. Mayes, Frances. Bella Tuscany. New York: Random House, 1999.
Mayes continues the memoir (and recipes) begun in Under the Tuscan Sun.

20. Newby, Eric. A Small Place in Italy. Oakland: Lonely Planet, 1994.
Another couple buys a small place in rural Tuscany and enters into the everyday life.

21. Parks, Tim. Italian Neighbors: or A Lapsed Anglo-Saxon in Verona. New York: Ballantine, 1992.
An Englishman married to an Italian gives often-hilarious descriptions of life in a small apartment house in a suburb of Verona.

22. Parks, Tim. An Italian Education. New York: Avon, 1995.
Taking up where Italian Neighbors leaves off, Parks describes with some misgivings what it's like to discover that his children are growing up Italian.

23. Paolicelli, Paul. Dances with Luigi. New York: St. Martin’s, 2000.
A journalist moves to Italy to search for understanding of his family’s past and especially of his grandfathers’ lives. The ending is especially fascinating.

24. Peel, Giovanna. Starting with Tuscany. Toronto: Birch Tree, 1999.
After spending most of her adult years in Canada, a woman returns to visit her native Italy, recounting her travel experiences and the memories they rekindle.

25.Phelps, Daphne. A House in Sicily. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1999.
An Englishwoman inherits her uncle's house in Sicily, plans to stay a couple of weeks, but—having turned the house into an inn—is still there 50 years later.

26. Rips, Michael. Pasquale’s Nose. New York: Little Brown, 2001.
An American couple’s extended stay in a village outside Rome provokes humorous accounts of local life, as well as some serious moments. Rips focuses especially on the most bizarre members of the town’s citizenry and reveals some unorthodox qualities of his own.

27. St. Aubin de Terán, Lisa. A Valley in Italy. New York: HarperCollins, 1994.
This time the daunting restoration project is in Umbria.

28. Tullio, Paolo. North of Naples, South of Rome. New York: St. Martin's, 1994.
An Italian raised in England describes not only his family’s hometown in Italy but also the workings of small-town Italian politics and other mysteries.

[BoFanBecky]

WOW! Excellent work you've done here Winnie. Anyone who enjoys reading should hit their "Print" button pronto. :wink:

[Janice]

I picked up the Luigi Barzini book THE ITALIANS mentioned on this list for 25 cents :D yesterday at a neighborhood thrift store. I was very surprised to see it. I love book shopping in thrift stores. Somedays you don't find anything that interests you. : But other days...you buy two hardcovers and four paperbacks and pay a grand total of $2.00 plus tax. :) That is a GOOD day at the thrift store!

[dottie]

Hi, I'm reading Tim Parks "Italian Education" and it is charming.Bringing up kids in Italy with the loving Nonnas and Nonnis ,cautious parents,nursery school etc.I love it. Dottie