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Rating: 
Summary: Bravissimo!
Review: Having had the pleasure of living in Rome, I was thrilled to read this book. Franco's memoir of his beloved city is lovingly written and he captures the very essence of what it is like to spend a few months there and really get to know the neighborhoods. To write about Rome is to take on a daunting task: how can you begin to describe a city that is layered with 2,000 years of civilization? The only way is through personal experience and Franco's book opens the door to this most mysterious and wild, yet sophisticated place. A must for anyone planning a trip there and better yet, if you've already been there and want to reminisce.
Rating:
Summary: made me understand the Rome beyond the tourist experience
Review: I went to Rome 3 years ago, and I understood my trip much better after reading this informative humorous tome. The author is by birth a Roman (and he explains what makes a Roman, and how that differs from the rest of the Italians.) Although currently in Boston, he and his wife often returns and he sees old friends. With his own memories as well as the tales of his pals, he explains what is going on with Rome today and how it relates to evenst several thousands of years ago AS WELL AS those of recent years. Particularly telling is what he write sof the Jubilee for the new millennium just a short while ago.The book covers the gamut from food to transportation, what is good and what is bad, what has changed and what has SEEMED to change but really has not. The author is not maudlin and overly sentimental (which I was initially afraid he would be) and that made for a pleasant time reading this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Pleasant, but doesn't reach any great heights.
Review: It seems that anyone who has lived abroad, (especially if the abode was in Tuscany or the South of France), feels compelled to write about it. This book makes for a pleasant read, but is somewhat predictable in its adherence to that genre of travel/living abroad school of writing. I found the book had some useful and amusing facts, but a lot of the in-depth encounters with other Romans added nothing to my interest in that city. Although a British visitor, without the length of experience of the now-expatriate Romagnoli, H.V.Morton's "A Traveler in Rome" remains the incomparable choice for a deeper understanding of Rome.
Rating:
Summary: Pleasant, but doesn't reach any great heights.
Review: It seems that anyone who has lived abroad, (especially if the abode was in Tuscany or the South of France), feels compelled to write about it. This book makes for a pleasant read, but is somewhat predictable in its adherence to that genre of travel/living abroad school of writing. I found the book had some useful and amusing facts, but a lot of the in-depth encounters with other Romans added nothing to my interest in that city. Although a British visitor, without the length of experience of the now-expatriate Romagnoli, H.V.Morton's "A Traveler in Rome" remains the incomparable choice for a deeper understanding of Rome.
Rating: 
Summary: Remembering Home
Review: This book represents the musings of a native son of Rome, returning for an extended visit home after a lifetime living abroad. Romagnoli, now in his 70s, grew up in Rome, leaving it for America some 50 years earlier with his American wife. As this book begins, the widowed Romagnoli, newly re-married to another American, is returning to Rome to re-establish his ties.
During the tax ride from the airport, Romagnoli considers the concept of "native". He was born in Rome, but that doesn't qualify him as truly Roman. To be truly Roman, all ancestors to 7 generations back must have been born and lived in Rome. While his mother was a Roman, his father was a "pellegrino," an immigrant from the North. The taxi driver points out some of the more recent pellegrinos they pass on the way to Romagnoli's rented flat. This is a suitable introduction to the book-rather than focus on the sights or manners of the Romans, Romagnoli considers broad topics of special import to Italians. In each subsequent chapter, he takes up a different topic in turn, such as government, health care, the fountains, religion, and transportation. But he develops each of these topics from his experiences on this particular trip. By the time you finish reading this book, you will feel you have had a series of long conversations with a Roman about how the city works, and how Romans feel about it.
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