Under the Tuscan Sun

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Summary: sterile
Review: In all that clutter of words do you think she could spare at least one kind or loving word for her husband (or lover) Ed? Working, working, working...to enjoy what? Things outside themselves or maybe each unto him or herself, but certainly not each other.

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Summary: this book makes me hungry
Review: I was amazed at the strong opinions (both positive and negative) about this book. This is the kind of book which makes me want to settle in with a cup of tea and a cookie so I could read forever - I truly wish I could write half as well as Frances Mayes! I enjoyed her descriptions of the area, of remodeling (ugh!), and of hunting for just the 'right' item. Mostly, though, I enjoyed her descriptions of the food - they made me hungry and also made me want to head straight for the kitchen and create. This book will be my Christmas-gift-of-choice for my food loving friends.

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Summary: living through words
Review: Unlike most current travel memoir-type novels, this is not a book about travel, really. It is a book about experiences. The perspective is limited to one woman's descriptions of her daily activities in order to allow the reader to see what she sees, touch what she touches, and taste what she tastes consistently throughout the pages. It is an appeal to the senses. The book is not about Italy, it is about a place that evokes emotion and involvement in the basics of life- food and shelter. You must experience it in that context to enjoy it.

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Summary: Delightful Italian living for American Family
Review: This engaging book tells the wonderfully entertaining story of the purchase and renovation of an empty house in Northern Italy by a professor who lives in San Francisco and her professor husband. The couple describe the adventures of finding and hiring capable workmen who can literally take apart and put back together a house that has a foundation laid near part of the Appian Way with ancient Runic stones as its base. The descriptions of their new found life, the food of the area, day trips and the relaxed yet envigorating day to day living make this a most enjoyable foray into living abroad for the reader.

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Summary: Captivating, inspirational, enchanting!
Review: Mrs. Mayes describes her experiences with brilliant color and style. Her work is flowing and rich in detail. She takes you to Tuscany and gives the sense that I am experiencing everything that she is. Her style is light and humorous, making the "trip" to Tuscany a virtual reality.

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Summary: This book is a celebration of life!!
Review: The warmth of the Tuscan sun is reflected back to your face with every page turned. This book is a wonderfully luscious, sensual celebration of life! The reverence that Ms. Mays shows for the Italian countryside and inhabitants is evident throughout. Read this book!

Rating:
Summary: Tedious, patronizing, self-absorbed, but good recipes.
Review: This affluent Californian pretends to "experience" the people of Tuscany without ever bothering to really know any locals (except for the expatriates, whom we presume she can see in a mirror). She is just a bit too precious and really seems like Martha Stewart in Italy. As an Italian-American, a cook, and an architect, I find Frances Mayes a comical American who never really knows anyof the Italians living around her, gets hoodwinked by every contractor she encounters, and carries the renovations to absurdity. At least she has some good recipes in the book. It was a waste of my time to read this syrupy baloney on Wonder Bread when I craved a taste of real prosciutto and fresh crusty bread. On her next trip, she should truly befriend a few Italians without hiring them.

Rating:
Summary: Author is too self-absorbed
Review: The repetitive use of "I" as the subject, with the occassional "we" largely detracted from the descriptions of the local color. The recipes in the middle earned the second star. For a much better foreign settling story try "A Year in Provence"

Rating:
Summary: Stilted and Condescending
Review: A friend of Italian origin lent me "Under the Tuscan Sun" and was in raptures about the book. Sadly I found it tedious and contrived. In describing Italy one would assume there to be energy and colour. Ms Mayes' writing is the antithesis of the culture she seeks to be embraced into.

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Summary: A view from up close against the waves of history
Review: I bought the book and found it wonderfully engrossing. It's the small details, the Zen of painting a wall or planting a flower, against the great backdrop of history. True, Mayes focuses on her life to the exclusion of the broader Italian culture, geography and history, but that's what a memoir is -- the details through the eye of the author. Definitely worth a read. Ciao. END