Rating: 
Summary: Pompous, Boring, Never Elegant ...what was he thinking?
Review: A slim volume on one of the world's great foreign destinations, so one would expect something elegant, insightful, witty perhaps, something evocative of the place.Unfortunately, I don't there is a paragraph in his book that evokes anything about what it is like to visit or live in Florence. It's certainly not worth reading as literature and it doesn't take you there from your arm chair. This book is just a boring rendition of sort-of famous people who lived or live in Florence, coupled with David Leavitt's intention of showing you all the famous or important people he knows. He evidently thinks people will one day be writing about his life there. This isn't about Florence -- it's about the author's evident obsession with effete men of letters and his desire to be one.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Impressed
Review: As someone who has spent a lot of time in Florence, over the past 20 years, I am not impressed with this book. It doesn't say anything new. Other non-fiction books by other foreigners, writing about Florence, have covered most of the topics that Leavitt writes about. Much of his book is a re-hashing of literary criticism. He talks about the literary figures from other countries who spent time in Florence and he discusses how they felt & what they said about the city. This has been well-covered by other writers. It is nothing new. It strikes me that Leavitt doesn't even mention Florentines themselves, leaving me wondering if, as an ex-pat living in Florence, if he even knows any Florentines at all. Of course he must, but the total lack of a Florentine in his book strikes me as odd. Isn't that a large part of what readers enjoy, when reading about a foreign place? The sense that they're actually getting to know the locals through reading the book? Look how much readers enjoyed Peter Mayle's books on Provence. This was due, in large part, to the way the author introduced the reader to the local people. It brought a lot of flavor to the book. Leavitt's book lacks flavor in my opinion. For me, most of his discussions have a tired energy to them.
Rating: 
Summary: FAR FROM RUN-OF-THE-MILL
Review: Edmund White's THE FLANEUR, A STROLL THROUGH THE PARADOXES OF PARIS is not your ordinary guide book for Americans visiting Paris. And so, another Bloomsbury edition, David Leavitt's FLORENCE, A DELICATE CASE is not your "run-of-the-mill-go-visit-this-museum-and-then-have-pasta-in-this-trattoria" travel book. (It is actually the third volume in Bloomsbury's "Writer and The City" series.) Both White's and Leavitt's books are extremely personal, sincere takes on one of the authors' favorite cities. Naturally, since Leavitt has chosen to live in Italy and to study Florence, he knows the city very, very well. Interestingly, he knows the literary and social history of the city. Even more interesting to me is his knowledge of how and why Florence has appealed to any number of artists from Tschaikovsky to E.M. Forster and fellow "travel" essayist, Mary McCarthy. This is a beautifully written and beautifully produced book. The jacket design and photograph are particularly handsome. A good deal of this very small volume is spent on homosexual tradition and history in Florence, naturally enough since homosexuality informs all of Leavitt's writings, fiction and non-fiction, either in the forefront or on the back burner. And almost best of all, at the book's close, Leavitt treats the reader to an index bulging with titles and short descriptions of guide books, novels, memoirs, poems, etc. all of which have Florence as their spring-board. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED both for the plane-hopping traveller and the one stuck in an armchair.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: Florence, A Delicate Case is the most interesting book about the City of the Lily since Mary McCarthy's The Stones of Florence. Leavitt has written about aspects of Florence's history that even history itself has tended to overlook, and so he illuminates this city for anyone who has ever been there, or plans to go there, or even just hopes to go there. Although this is far from being a "guide book," it so uniquely maps out a lost Florence, and records the names of so many of its ghosts, that it should be in every suitcase bound for Italy. In sum: a wonderful book from a wonderful writer.
Rating:
Summary: UNIMPRESSIVE
Review: Flowery, vague. Full of references, quotes and superficial historical clips. Nothing of great interet to lovers of Florence or tourists. Save you money.
Rating:
Summary: A meager effort...
Review: from a very good writer. Absolutely a let-down -- nothing but a very brief untidy mish-mash of foreigners in Florence..My suggestion would be to pick up a copy of Mary McCarthy's stones of venice & florence -- it's a little outdated, but for an equally brief book is packed with fascinating information that will give you a real handle on this fantastic city...
Rating: 
Summary: Mixed feelings
Review: I have mixed feelings about this book. I found the chapter on homosexuality in Florence interesting, but a tiny phrase let it down. In the lesser space accorded the lesbian population, Mrs George Keppel is described as the mother of "yet another" lesbian. As if by there being four or five renowned lesbian inhabitants amongst the far more numerous gay males, they were forming a disproportionately large segment of the population! I found that quite odd. I also found it difficult to reconcile Leavitt's bitchiness about the lack of contact the earlier generations of ex-pats had with the locals (to the point of "like many" not knowing any Italian) with the lack of presence of any contemporary Florentines in his narrative, given that he is a part-time resident himself. I loved the chapter about the "mud angels", brief as it was, and would have enjoyed more about the relationship between locals and expats alike with the art of this wonderful city. Having said all that, I did enjoy the book overall and it is a welcome addition to the background literature of Italy which I read voraciously.
Rating:
Summary: A book with a view
Review: I took this book with me to Florence and it turned out to be the most useful thing I packed. After spending several days going to see all the paintings and churches my Blue Guide recommended, it was a pleasure to see Florence through this author's eyes. I did not know that the David of Michelangelo in the Piazza della Signoria was a copy, for example, and that the original that used to stand in the same place was moved on a makeshift railroad to its present home in the 1800s. Walking the course of David's journey made seeing the original more meaningful to me. But this whole book is filled with amazing pieces of history that are a perfect antidote to the routine traveler's experience of Florence. Most highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Banal
Review: I was surprised to find this slim, well researched volume so banal. Mr Leavitt has only skimmed the frivolous surface of life in Florence. Yes, for this book he's done his literary research, all to prove his point of the bitchy gay gossipy life of the city. He is quick to point out that he's not been, nor does he want to be part of the continuation of that life, then lists his social conquests. The only part that involved real Italians, and real life there was when he talks about the flood. He clearly didn't get into the life of the city he claims to know so well. This book is so full of missed opportunities that I don't understand what the editors had in mind. Is this a gay guide? Is it a memoir? Is it a conciet? Don't bother buying this book.
Rating:
Summary: Banal
Review: I was surprised to find this slim, well researched volume so banal. Mr Leavitt has only skimmed the frivolous surface of life in Florence. Yes, for this book he's done his literary research, all to prove his point of the bitchy gay gossipy life of the city. He is quick to point out that he's not been, nor does he want to be part of the continuation of that life, then lists his social conquests. The only part that involved real Italians, and real life there was when he talks about the flood. He clearly didn't get into the life of the city he claims to know so well. This book is so full of missed opportunities that I don't understand what the editors had in mind. Is this a gay guide? Is it a memoir? Is it a conciet? Don't bother buying this book.
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