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Title: Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy by Frances Mayes ISBN: 0811808424 Publisher: Chronicle Books Pub. Date: October, 1996 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.37
Rating: 1
Summary: Italian Fairy-tale Written by a Non-Italian
Comment: Being 1/2 Italian, and having family in Northern Italy, and having visited Italy 6 times I have to say... buy this book ONLY if:
1) You've never been to Italy, and
2) You love to cook (and read recipes), and
3) You want to read what it's like to be able to afford a home in SF and renovate one in Tuscany, and
4) You want to cling to a fairy-tale vision of Italy, or
5) You're on a deserted island with nothing else to read.
However, if you really want to know what it's like to live/be in Italy, and what Italian culture is really like, I suggest you read any or all of Tim Parks' books ("Italian Neighbors Or, a Lapsed Anglo-Saxon in Verona", "Italian Education", or "A Season with Verona: Travels Around Italy in Search of Illusion, National Character, and...Goals!"). Tim is an Englishman who married an Italian woman and moved to Italy and had kids. Parks' descriptions of Italian life are real... Mayes' descriptions of Italian life are a bit too syrupy for my stomach.
Rating: 2
Summary: Stick to your writing, Frances.
Comment: This book and film are probably wonderful escapism for women who read house and kitchen magazines. The descriptions of gardens, food and construction are vivid, but without much substance. The abridged version, read by the author, is a trial to listen to. She reads in an adenoidal, flat voice with almost unrecognizable Southern pronounciation. She should be quiet and express herself only in writing.
Rating: 2
Summary: WARNING: If you have the audio version of this book ...
Comment: My husband and I listened to the unabridged version of this book while driving from New Jersey to Kentucky (about 12 hours). There should be a warning on these tapes cautioning you not to listen while driving. Fortunately, I managed to stay awake during the times that I was at the wheel, but as soon as my husband took over, I was drifting to sleep almost immediately. Once in a while, I would return to consciousness and ask, "Who's getting married in the house?" "So, have they finished the kitchen yet?" "What happened to the Etruscan wall?" Most of the time, I found that my husband hadn't been listening either, even though he was supposed to be awake. Fortunately, we returned home in one piece ... but thank goodness for several pit stops to stoke up on good black coffee (not expresso, I'm afraid). The two chapters on summer and winter recipes were particularly soporific. I might have enjoyed this book more had I been able to read it and skim through the most tedious parts, but listening to 11 hours of narration can only be recommended to those needing a good night's sleep.
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Title: Bella Tuscany: The Sweet Life in Italy by Frances Mayes ISBN: 076790284X Publisher: Broadway Books Pub. Date: 04 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: In Tuscany by Frances Mayes, Edward Mayes, Bob Krist ISBN: 0767905350 Publisher: Broadway Books Pub. Date: 31 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle, Judith Clancy ISBN: 0679731148 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: June, 1991 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: The Most Beautiful Villages of Tuscany by James Bentley, Hugh Palmer ISBN: 050001664X Publisher: Thames & Hudson Pub. Date: January, 2002 List Price(USD): $40.00 |
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Title: Extra Virgin: A Young Woman Discovers the Italian Riviera, Where Every Month Is Enchanted by Annie Hawes ISBN: 0060958111 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 02 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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