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Summary: food, fabric, and romance with a "stranger"
Review: I liked the book quite a bit; it was a well-written, enjoyable read. The writing is rich, weaving snippets of Italian language and novel food metaphors into the text. The author describes her relationship with her husband, her relationship with cooking, and her relationship with fabric in sumptuous detail. Okay -- the sumptuous descriptions are more about the food and fabric than the man. The story itself is a bit more troubling. Like the other readers, I found the author's decision to give up the home and restaurant she built for herself in St. Louis and move to Italy, taking little more than the vintage pillows and candlesticks she's collected over the years to live in a place she'd never seen, with a "stranger" to be a bit impulsive, and I certainly don't envy her relationship -- she refers to her husband as "the stranger" throughout the book, and paints him as a skinny, beady-eyed (though his eyes are supposedly blueberry colored), moody, impetuous banker. I'm not sure what they have in common -- he doesn't even share her consuming passion for food. And I find it hard to believe that an aesthete like the author would move from her beautifully-furnished home to a nondescript apartment with red plastic fixtures, a tiny kitchen, and a washing machine that takes up half the bathroom floor space. All that aside, the story of her relocation to Venice and the process by which she creates a rich life for herself in Venice is fascinating, and if you can get past the unconvincing Cinderella-whisked-away-by-the-Italian-stranger part of the book, you'll find plenty to enjoy. Recipes for the author's how-to-catch-a-man meals are included.
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Summary: Breaks Down in Coyness
Review: Count me with the dissenters. The book begins promisingly enough, but unless you are heavily into endless descriptions of the buying and preparing of food, as opposed to any serious emotional depth or coherency, you might have a difficult time with this one. I really got fed up with the author referring to her husband as "the stranger," which might have been true when she decided to marry him after mere days of real acquaintance, but began to be truly irritating after they had been living together for a couple of years. It wasn't so much that I didn't buy them as soulmates (given that almost everything about them seemed to irritate the other!), as that in my experience, love is in recognizing the acquaintance as NOT a stranger, but indeed, a familiar friend. In any case, despite loving Venice in my own, all-too-brief experience of it, I could not even bring myself to finish the book - unlike "Extra Virgin," which was a delight. I really do wonder what will become of these people in a few years, when the charm of the stranger's passive-aggressive behavior wears thin.
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Summary: A dissenting opinion
Review: I hate to be a dissenting opinion, but the other side of the coin ought to be revealed. I was puzzled with this story because it seemed to me that the author up and moved to Venice to marry a man she knew (barely) peripherally. It wasn't like they'd had a long distance romance for years...and then decided to marry. They met, visited each other a couple times. Then once she's living with him, she is frustrated with the adjustment and his foreign (to her) ways and continues to call him "the stranger" even after they are married! It seemed too whimsical and I couldn't really feel bad for her frustrations given that she went into this pretty blindly. What did interest me was her in depth knowledge of Venice itself, which I'm sure she could've delved deeper into and provided us with more tidbits the average tourist wouldn't uncover. I also appreciated her detail of the Italian culture (ie: wedding plans, renovating the house, the moving process). I won't say I wouldn't recommend the book because I do feel there's an audience for it, I just won't be giving my copy out freely and endorsing it as the read of the summer.
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Summary: Womderful, wonderful, wonderful
Review: I enjoyed this book very much and found it difficult to put it down. The author comes out from inside the book to a level where the reader is able to connect with her and all her emotions. It is a wonderful read, almost poetic and their love is so true. A must read for those who love Italy and especially for those who fall in love there.
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Summary: A Sumptuous Book
Review: I have read many books set in Venice, but this is by far the best of any, whether fiction or non-fiction. The author really captures Venice and the Venetian people perfectly, sparing no-one, not even her husband, when she points out their quirks and idiosyncracies. The story is touching, funny, and true, and as soon as I finished I started reading it again. I will never forget about the Southern American dinner the author cooks for a big party of Venetians or the tango she does with the tax-man, I felt like I was there eating fudge pudding with a bunch of old Venetian guys. I feel I know Marlena and Fernando and having lived in Venice for a while myself, I could totally relate to the ups and downs of Marlena's life there with her Venetian.
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Summary: A Wonderful Journey
Review: This a wonderful book. It is a captivating love story. It is also a wonderful lesson on the reality of following dreams, including the reality and frustrations of trying to live in, an adapt to, a world that you have grown to love from travel and vacations. DeBlasi's writing is lyrical. We get caught up in the romance and yet stay firmly in touch with reality as we learn of the trials, tribulations, joy and wonder of picking up your life to follow a dream. Highly recommended!
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Summary: A Wonderful Journey
Review: This is a wonderful book. It is a captivating love story. It is also a wonderful lesson on the reality of following dreams, including the reality and frustrations of trying to live in, an adapt to, a world that you have grown to love from travel and vacations. Marlene DeBlasi's writing is lyrical and yet she never loses track of reality as she shares the romantic journey. Although the love she and fernando discover is magical, DeBlasi brings to the reader, with great humor, the trials, tribulations, wonder and joy of moving your entire life to another country. highly recommended!
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Summary: Such a charming book!
Review: I have spent the last two nights in Venice... not really, but I feel as though I have, lying in bed amidst fluffy pillows, with a glass of red wine and my hot-off-the-presses copy of A Thousand Nights in Venice. What delightful book it is, Marlena takes us all on a romantic journey into the unknown. What happens when you meet the love of your life in, um, for lack of a better term -- middle age? How do you pick up and move across the world to an unknown place and cast your lot with a charming stranger? So many of us have had this fantasy while traveling, Marlena had the courage to act on the opportunity when it appeared. She has a lovely way with words, her descriptions of people, places, and best of all -- food, will sweep readers into an exotic world. Enjoy!
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Summary: Food, Travel and a Little Romance
Review: Just finished reading "A Thousand Days in Venice" and am now ready to travel to Italy. Seriously, this was an enjoyable book, full of poetic alliteration, great descriptions of Venice and some helpful background history to a city I knew little about. I learned more about Venetian courtesans, for instance, than I'd ever imagined. It's a true story by and about middle-aged Marlena De Blasi, a professional chef & writer from Missouri, who travels to Venice on business and meets "the stranger". She falls in love, sells practically all her (beautiful) earthly possessions, moves into his grimy, Spartan apartment and marries him. The book focuses mostly on how both she and the stranger change themselves and each other & how Venice touches their lives. It's also about food...lots and lots of food. I found myself simultaneously admiring and wanting to throttle Ms. de Blasi at times, both for her ability at spontaneity and her tendency to allow this Italian male to boss her around. Luckily the later happened less often as the book progressed so I was able to calm down and enjoy the story. If you like beautifully descriptive travel books, European history and especially great food, "1000 Days" is worth the read.
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Summary: A feel good read
Review: I don't make it a habit to read romance novels. I was happy to find a beautiful story. Marlena's writing made me feel as if I was there. I would say being nearly 40 helps to understand and connect with her thoughts, opinions and feelings. Definately a feel good read. Loved it!!
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