Rating: 
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
Rating: 
Summary: Beautifully written and sterile
Review: Such a waste of talent! She writes beautifully, but this pretty superficial stuff. Did she find a publisher who had done market research and found that the combination of key words to get a best seller this year were Italy, food, wine, decoration and a mysterious man? (It worked, of course) Where is her sense of humor about herself, her humility about being a novice to Italy and Italian? Even for a book to read on trains or airplanes, it lacks the minimum amount of significance to make it more than a distraction. I would rather have read (another) well-written cookbook on Tuscan cookery. Or reread Dirk Bogarde's account of rebuilding a house in Provence: now there's a book!
Rating: 
Summary: Captures the essence of Italian living
Review: Having lived in Italy for 7 years myself, Ms. Mayes evocation of life in Tuscany seemed right on the money. Her observations of how life is lived, the way things look, and the pure sensual enjoyment of food in the Italian culture brought back so many similar memories. For the individual who has never visited Italy, this book provides a worthy introduction to the feel and rhythm of the country and its culture. The recipes were wonderful and authentic. For evocation of place, atmosphere, ambiance, I really enjoyed this book. One caveat: the true cost of purchasing a home in Tuscany, renovating it, living there is not at all romantic. For the majority of people, this is purely an armchair traveler's fantasy. Don't be fooled into thinking any differently by the deceptive simplicity of Mayes' description of her style of living while there. Other than that, it ended too quickly.
Rating: 
Summary: boring, self-centered, completely detached from Italy
Review: As an italian living in Tuscany, I found this book almost outrageous. First of all, it is a really boring, endless description of THINGS - it could be a do-it-yourself book on restoring houses. From a woman that teaches creative writing, I expected something more. But what really annoyed me is that the author doesn't show the least interest in understanding and penetrating the italian lifestyle and culture. The book could be titled "A Stonehouse Somewhere In The Mediterranean Area", for all the relations it bears with Tuscany, or Italy. The interactions with the locals are limited to whatever work at the house they can do; there isn't the slightest interest in knowing them and their life. Mayes lives in her charming stonehouse immersed in the idea that her way of doing and seeing things is the only possible one; the doubt that "strange" behaviors could be explained by another history and culture never touches her. Being annoyed because people don't come to sand your ceilings in August is like wanting to send your kid to school on Thanksgiving...From what I gathered from the book, Mayes' only real interactions are with other americans, that share with her a quite distorted view of Italy. Her romantic views of the "nonna" living in the nice house in the country really made me laugh; ask any italian grandmother what it was like to live in a farmhouse 50 years ago: 20 hrs of work per day, cold, starving, meat only on Christmas and maybe Easter. And Mayes dreams about the "nonna" lovingly roasting the steaks on the fireplace! Half of the italian words in the book are mispelled. The book might be intended for an american audience, but still the author could have taken the pain to show it to an italian "friend" before sending it to print. To me, it just shows once more how detached the author is from Tuscany, her "second home".
Rating:
Summary: Bit of Disappointment
Review: Am about halfway through the book and struggling to finish it. I'm not sure what I don't like about it, but I get the sense that Ms. Mayes is a little condescending toward her Italian hosts, the citizens of Cortona. I'm not sure what I expected from this book, but it certainly wasn't so much about the remodelling of her 2nd home. You win some you lose some. I also bought Romer's book, so maybe that will be more what I want: food and wine and authentic living...not just some bourgeois lady who bemoans the troubles of Martha Stewart.
Rating:
Summary: NOT A TRAVEL BOOK !!!!!!!!!
Review: This book is not about travel.... it is about a couple buying a villa in italy and working on it, with all the ups and downs of the project, it is wonderful if you understand the book and what it is about.. If you are planning a trip to Italy do not buy this book, if you dream of living there and buying a home or if you just like stories about such things, this book is great..
Rating:
Summary: More about consumerism goes abroad than about Italy
Review: It seems sad and strange that this book should be a best seller. The author writes mainly about her material acquisitions--the villa, the linens, the pottery, the furniture. Her contacts with Italians are of the depth of my contacts with my plumber, real estate agent, or checkout clerk. She makes up for this by "imagining" the lives of people she sees--a condescending exercise that violates the integrity of these people's lives. Even the main characters, the author, her husband, her daughter, are described as roles--poet, gourmet cook, department chair, mill owner's daughter--rather than as people with emotions, quirks, sorrows and joys. "Insights" into Italy are from "book larnin'," not from experience. For an entertaining account of remodeling an Italian villa, "Valley in Italy" by Lisa St. Aubin De Teran is very entertaining. For insights into Italians and life in Italy, "Italian Neighbors" and "An Italian Education" by Tim Parks are great.
Rating:
Summary: The pace is very Italian: warm, slow and delicious
Review: Before you pass this book along to friends make sure to copy the simple, incredible recipes Mayes includes. I read this book 2 weeks before getting to Cortona and felt as if I was "revisiting" old haunts and good friends.
Rating:
Summary: They are living the life I dream of.
Review: Purchased this book while waiting at the airport for my flight. I love everything Italian and was glad to find the book. On my flight this book took me somewhere else. It is wonderful, I could not put it down, could not wait to see what happened next.
Rating:
Summary: I'm learning Italian and moving to Tuscany!
Review: This book made me want to pack my bags and move to Tuscany. Frances Mayes has a lovely way with words and her descriptions are so good that you really feel you are there. Her interest in the local food and wine add extra charm to this book. I felt I had lost a friend when I came to the end! Lovely and easy to read.
|
