Botticelli Blue Skies: An American in Florence

Rating:
Summary: Keep looking....
Review: I'm sorry. I tried, but by the 7th chapter, I got so tired of the whining that I quit. Not only does she need to get out of her comfortable little life more often, but she needs to be more appreciative of the opportunities given to her.

Rating:
Summary: The Whining American
Review: I'm sorry. I tried, but by the 7th chapter, I got so tired of the whining that I quit. Not only does she need to get out of her comfortable little life more often, but she needs to be more appreciative of the opportunities given to her.

Rating:
Summary: deadly dull
Review: Imagine having the opportunity to spend three months in Florence all expenses paid with no responsibilities! Heaven! But no, for Merrill Joan Gerber, it's about as welcome as an invitation to North Dakota in the winter. Her husband finally convinces her to come along. What we are treated to next is about as interesting, maybe less so, as any travel journal that the average tourist would keep. Today we went to xyz museum. The weather was cloudy/sunny etc.What on earth induced Gerber or her publisher to think that what she had to say was of any interest is beyond me.

Rating:
Summary: I will definitely read this book again.
Review: Merrill Joan Gerber has a wonderful talent for using humor and details to bring her story to life. I loved sharing her adventures and discoveries. Reading her book was like being back in Italy again. I looked forward to each new chapter, wondering where she would take me next. Some places were already familiar to me, and some were new and unexpected. It's her personal story, and she told it well.

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Summary: Life is a Pleasure
Review: Merrill Joan Gerber's book about Florence is less about Florence than it is about life itself -- and because it is about life, it sheds light all over Florence itself. Here is an honest woman experiencing a foreign country, missing her home and mother, and recording with candor what she sees, feels, and hears. Instead of glorifying another culture, we are invited to see her heart -- and her love for her husband. A welcome read for those who travel for reasons other than Wanderlust.

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Summary: What a disappointment!
Review: This writer complains her way through the account of her stay in Italy. Instead of appreciating the eccentricities that make a foreign country interesting and unique, this writer is daunted by every unexpected twist and turn and either wishes she were back in the U.S. or wishes things Italian were more American. As a person who has spent a lot of time in Italy both as a student and as an adult and loves the country, I was repulsed by her negativity. She writes without a sense of humor or affection for Italy. The weather was always too cold or too hot; the distances were always too far and her feet always hurt. After three months, she had not even seen most of the major museums. Instead, she seems to have spent her time in thrift shops. All very strange.