La Dolce Vita: Living in Italy

Rating:
Summary: O To Live In Italy!
Review: Catherine Fairweather has honed her skills as a writer from her days as a contributing editor to House and Garden and here joins forces with photographer Mark Luscombe-Whyte to present a volume of life in Italy that not only makes for a beautiful and informative book, it makes the reader long for the pleasures of living in what surely is the world's most romantic country.

Separated into chapters - Grand Style: classic villas and country estates; Bohemian Chic: rural and island retreats (Tuscany, Lazio, Puglia); Urban Elegance: city apartments and townhouses (Milan, Rome, Venice) - Fairweather enters private homes of the rich and famous and describes how the regions and the atmosphere dictate the home's ambience. The photographs are gorgeous: full views of each home entered as well as separate views of rooms and bibelots, both inside the home and from the garden make us feel as though we have at least spent a full day in each location.

For a coffee table tour of the places rarely seen in Italy, this book is as fine as they come. Other volumes may offer more sophisticated history and cultural input, but Fairweather and Luscombe-Whyte take the personal approach - and that works very well! Grady Harp, November 2004