Rating: 
Summary: I'll try finishing it, but I'm dubious
Review: As a great fan of Peter Mayle and Susan Hermann Loomis, a friend bought me this book, and I tried reading through it, but got really sick of "this didnt happen, so I cried" so I've never finished it. Loomis does the same thing in En Rue Tatin (buy a house in a foreign country, remodel it, and chronicle the event), but she makes a positive spin on it, MUCH more pleasant to read. No fault with the recipes, tho I've not tried any of them.
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Summary: Wonderfully Descriptive Memoir
Review: Recently divorced, Frances Mayes, decides that it is time to do something that she's always dreamed of doing with her life. So she makes a purchase that she has dreamed of for years. She buys an abandoned villa in Tuscany, which is how UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN comes about. Mayes describes her time spent in the rural Italian village, and uses such descriptive language to help the reader to bask in the happiness and glory that she, herself, experienced. Filled with her thoughts and memories of the architecture of the villa, decorating it, cleaning it, working in the garden surrounding her lovely new home, and becoming close to the locals. Mayes describes her time cooking, painting, gardening, and working on whatever else needed to be done, from fixing tiles to weeding the yard. Filled with many delicious Italian recipes, this book is sure to please anyone who's ever dreamed of a taste of Italia.Erika Sorocco
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Summary: loved the movie-not the book
Review: This is one to slog through--she lost me half way through the book with "I almost stepped on a soft,dead rat..." please!! I would not but another F.Mayes, ever!!
Rating:
Summary: The Biggest Snore......
Review: The descriptions of food go on and on. Actually, the descriptions of EVERYTHING go on and on. They're not interesting or enchanting they are just words on a page. The main problems: Mayes' tone is condescending (and that's being kind). She acts as if she discovered Cortona, villa renovation and fresh produce. Please! I kept hoping a big Tuscan stone would hit her on the head so she could acquire a new attitude. I can't even describe the plot because there isn't one. Travel logs are fun, exciting, amusing; I didn't even crack a smile as I read about food, stones, food, Frances Mayes and food. So, she's a good cook. I got it already, no need to talk about it for 200+ pages. Characters besides Mayes and her high opinion of herself are nonexistent; 280 pages - is Ed her husband, her boyfriend, her slave? Whatever, I don't even care anymore. I'd feel sorry for him if I could figure out who he is. I could go on and on, but I'm not Frances Mayes so I won't. My advice to her is to get over herself. My advice to a potential reader is to get over your impulse to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: yummy book!
Review: Reading this book was like being submerged in a warm scented bath. As I read it, I felt like I was being born along on a raft on a sleepy, sunny summer day. It reads like a stream of consciousness, and I found it easiest to just dip in and out of it. There did not seem to be any linear organization, but the poetry of Mayes' prose compensated for that nicely. Don't expect the book to "pick up" at any point, it maintains the same leisurely pace until the end. Do however, expect your mouth to start watering, as Mayes describes her meals (many recipes are provided, as well). No matter how much of a carnivore you are, you will probably find yourself craving pasta with fresh tomato, basil and olives. The nice thing about this book is just as you find yourself envying Mayes for her luck in finding this house, you get a description of the temperamental plumbing or disappearing workmen, and you think twice about going out and plunking down your life savings into a house in Italy. Her renovations on the house were anything but a smooth ride. I haven't seen the film, but I recommend the book.
Rating:
Summary: delightful escape to Italy
Review: I read this book after seeing the movie. I had heard they were very different, and they are. The movie has turned her memoirs into a narrative and taken several liberties with her life and friends, but I must admit that I enjoyed both. The book is a memoir and not a novel, and it mainly covers the purchase and renovation of an old villa near Cortona that Mayes purchased. Much of the charm and "action" of the book is how Mayes learns to do things the Tuscan way, inevitably by trial and error. Her delight in Tuscany and the people of Cortona make it easy to see why she was so accepted by the people. Mayes writes with warmth and a poetic sense of the sites, sounds, tastes and customs of Tuscany. This is a great book to curl up with and while away an afternoon.
Rating:
Summary: ZzZzZzzzz.....
Review: Frances Mayes describes in great detail her experiences as she encounters Italian life and culture in the book, Under the Tuscan Sun. Mayes and her husband purchase a rundown villa in Tuscany. Mayes takes the reader through each of her experiences while remodeling her house, traveling the country, and engulfing herself in the Italian lifestyle. All of the pointless descriptions of unimportant events, while she travels back and forth between America and Italy, become tedious. Mayes attempts to capture each moment of her life and share personal memories of favorite trips though the countryside as well as cooking tips fails to capture my attention in the least. Humorous mishaps along the way help move the reader through the seemingly endless story, but I was unable to relate to the story or stay interested enough to read it without dozing off for short spurts of time.
Mayes relives her memories, and she desires to share her passion for Italy with her readers. I recommend this book to those who are interested in everyday life and average Italian culture. Anyone who may have visited Italy or travels may enjoy reading of Mayes' experiences. Those who love the easy reading of true-life experiences, of renovating houses, adopting a new unknown culture, or learning new recipes for cooking foreign traditional dishes may find enjoyment from reading this book. For others out there, along with myself, who prefer exciting action packed stories, leave Under the Tuscan Sun for those cold, restless nights; it surely drove me to a deep slumber.
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Summary: Nothing Like the Movie
Review: I bought this book after watching the movie which I loved. I usually find that when a book is made into a movie, that I prefer the book. Not in this case though. The book is so very different than the movie. It reads more like a travelog, not much of a story. I also thought the chapter with the recipes was weird. If you just want to read a travel diary than you won't be disappointed. The author makes Italy sound wonderful. If you are expecting a story similar to the movie, forget it.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable Escape
Review: I'm not one to pick up books that have been made into movies. Under the Tuscan Sun is one I bought ages ago and after a trip to Tuscany, decided to give it a go. I'm not disappointed. Frances Mayes writes a lovely story of how she and her husband came to own a home in Italy, and how they came to learn the region, the dialect, and the people. Mayes has a way of talking to her readers that draws them in gently, allowing them to peek into her life without disturbing the inhabitants. What the book lacks is perhaps a reason for being. While it read like a novel, the story is more of a travelog/diary than a story. Still, anyone looking for quiet escapism or relaxing bedtime reading can't go wrong with this one.
Rating: 
Summary: I want to go back to Italy!
Review: Having been in Italy last September, this book called up many recent wonderful memories, foods, smells, flowers, trees, great Italian people, etc., etc., etc. I couldn't put the book down. The reviews of the movie didn't interest me but the book was a gift and a great one. One of the author's comments that I particularly liked was the fact that the Italians live with their past, it's always there, that if a woman who died of the plague a hundred years ago came back she'd find her house just as it was. Well, not those exact words. I recommend this book highly. This book makes me hope my first visit to Italy is not my last.
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