An Italian Education: The Further Adventures of an Expatriate in Verona

Rating:
Summary: Expendable Italians?
Review: Tim Parks writes remarkably well and can describe situations with painstaking insight. Yet, when he deals with Italy, he may become unbearably patronizing. I often wonder whether his books generally aim at explaining Italy or at reassuring English readers of their supposed superiority to the Italian comedy of questionable manners and corrupted politics.

In the past, Tim Parks has lived in the United States for long. Will he eventually have the courage to contend with American social mores with the same acerbic wit he employs with the Italians?

Rating:
Summary: Che spettacolo!
Review: What a pleasure to read! I carried it with me constantly for 4 days because I had to read at every red light and every grocery store line. What Tim Parks has accomplished is an honest telling of how different life in Italy must be from his homeland of the U.K. One expate that I met in Positano said that "In Italy nothing is ever quite normal," and therein lies its charm. If you dislike surprises, unexpected twists and turns, you better stick to the Teutonic countries because you will be unhappy in Italy. Parks, despite the occasional culture clash, seems to revel in Italy's lack of normalcy and has made the critical decision to raise his children in it. I will grant you that Parks has to resort to some overgeneralization about Italians, but, in retrospect, I don't see how he could have avoided doing so. The important truth that he reveals to the reader is that Italy is different than anywhere else in the world. As the occasional traveler, we cannot enjoy all the nuances of Italian life as Parks has been lucky enough to experience. One book that also points up these important embedded cultural differences is Italian Day by Barbara Grizzuti-Harrison. ENJOY!