Rating: 
Summary: BORING!!
Review: I bought this book after seein the preview for the movie, thinking it was about friendship and a woman changing her life. Needless to say, it wasn't that at all. From the moment I cracked the binding, I was already asleep. I stuck with it hoping it would get better and it didn't. I even skipped 50pgs to see if it would "perk up", it didn't. I was very disappointed in the book. I will admit to my error on not reading what the book was about, had I known, I wouldn't have bought it. I just gound the writing boring and a 200+ travel brochure to Italy. I was really excited when I bought the book, and immediatly disappointed after the first page.
Rating: 
Summary: Must have for book aficionados
Review: I highly recommend this book. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. The scenery depictions are so well written you feel like you can actually feel and smell the Tuscan sun and air. I couldn't put this book down and when I had to, I didn't want to. The best part of the book is that there are recipes and I love to cook. Buy the book. You will not be disappointed. Trust me.
Rating:
Summary: Utter drivel.
Review: Pedantic, pretentious and precious lacking either warmth or soul.
What this book needed was a ruthless editor to cut through the pompous, dessicated codswallop that Mayes tries to pass off as 'writing.'
If it's not being excruciatingly boring, it descends to being utterly ridiculous.
Her shopping trips are endless orgies of smugness and self gratification. Mayes even manages to buy wine to the appropriate shop muzak. She writes approvingly, Vivaldi for whites and Brahms for reds!!! For God's sake.......
Mayes just doesn't connect on any real human level with either Tuscany or the people who live there. She is a cold, cerebral voyeur probably writing to finance her by now, substantial retirement fund.
What a shame that I unwittingly contributed to it.
Rating: 
Summary: A fascinating journey...
Review: I really liked this book. Her descriptions of the people and places around Tuscany are just wonderful. It makes you want to go to Tuscany to experience the great food and culture. What a way to travel without all of the expense. She tends to go off on some bizzare description of the Saints towards the end of the book, that didn't seem to fit the rest of the book. Otherwise, it's a completely enjoyable book.
Rating:
Summary: I want to buy a villa in Tuscany
Review: This book is THE most sensual book I have EVER read. And NOT in the sexual way. Everything about this book is sensual. The descriptions are so vivid. You can see it, you can touch it,you can smell it, you can taste it. It's just so beautifully written that I fell in love with the raw earthiness of this book so completely. I am disapointed with the reviews that others have given this book, dismissing it as a guide book or trivializing the gorgeousness of it. I understand that people all have different opinions, but I also, at the same time, cannot help but wonder if they have missed the point of the book all together. It is a book that was written out of love FOR a labor of love...for and about the people and the country that Francis Mayes genuinely keeps deep in her heart. Her love for all of that comes out so completely, so uninhibited that one cannot help but fall hopelessly in love with it all as well. Now the movie is only a little like the book. And although I very much love the movie, the book is dearer to my heart. Only because the movie screen cannot do justice to the people and the country that Francis Mayes has given it with words.
Rating:
Summary: What a wonderful glimpse of Tuscan life!!
Review: I loved this book so much I also bought Bella Tuscany by Frances Mayes! I love the descriptions of the people, food, terrain, villas and towns. I am definitely adding Italy to a place I want to visit after reading this book. I haven't seen the movie, which I understand is a little different than the book. If you like descriptions of fixing old houses, bringing land back from the wild and neglect,the surroundings, and everyday life of the people of the region then this is the book for you! The author even includes some recipes, which are wonderful. Enjoy!!
Rating:
Summary: Evocative, lush, and enchanting
Review: Frances Mayes did for Tuscany what Peter Mayle did for Provence.
I was unfortunate enough to miss an airline connection in JFK, and the airline gave me a $15 voucher for lunch as an apology. I bought this book and a BIG margarita with UAL's money, sat in a booth at TGI Friday's, and nearly finished reading it before my substitute flight was called. I can vouch for this combo as a successful way to combat airport blues.
Mayes takes us with her as she, recently divorced, takes her next egg and, against the strident advice of her accountant, sinks pretty much all of it into a big old house on a large piece of property in Cortona, up in the hills of Tuscany. We watch her wrestle, as Mayle did before her, with the inevitable problems: language barriers, cultural barriers, a European worker's altered sense of time, faulty plumbing, surprises when walls are knocked down, etc. She and her lover (now her husband) weren't even there full time; they did this restoration over a period of years during school breaks and long holiday vacations.
A poet, travel writer, and creative writing professor at SF State, Frances Mayes finest creation is surely her Tuscan house and garden, but coming in a close second is her collection of books she's written on the subject. Don't miss it; it's a thoroughly delightful read, even without the killer margarita in your other hand.
Rating:
Summary: bramasole
Review: I admit I picked this book up due to the stir of popularity from the movie's release. It isn't my usual reading choice, but I do love travel writing and food writing for the appreciative tone, the gushing, the descriptions you can feel on your skin. And this was both in one. It was a lovely read just for that. What stood out to me most was the way Frances and Ed focused on the house renovation. I loved the way they jumped into their project and worked. I love a good project myself, and I related to the way they worked. And the sun. I admit that I am a summer girl. I love the way sunlight feels; it has such a comforting protection. I don't hate a hazy day, but I do yearn for the sun. Bramasole. It's such a beautiful word. I would love to feel the sun of Tuscany, to write beneath that sun, to let that sun warm my bones. "May summer last a hundred years."
Rating:
Summary: Under the Tuscan Sun
Review: I have not seen the movie and just picked up the book at random in a bookstore. As a big fan of memoirs and non-fiction (as well as a great lover of food in general and Italy in particular) I found the book to be completely enchanting. I look forward to reading other books by Frances Mayes.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful, wonderful book!
Review: I really enjoyed this book. You get the feeling that you are spending a relaxing evening with the author and trading stories about Italy. Frances Mayes helped me remember my favorite things about Italy and is helping to fill in the time before I can return. Also, the recipes were delicious! Just a side note that the book is completely different than the movie. The book tells the loving story of a husband and wife restoring a villa together. Sometimes reality is happier than fiction!
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