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Summary: Another view from a Yuppi/semi-expat. turned anthropologist.
Review: I found the book extremely patronizing and gushy. I love Peter Mayle's account of Provence. He's funny and never forgets he's a Brit in France with his own quirky views. Mayes might as well refer to the "Natives" when she speaks of the Italians...does she ever really connect to anyone beyond the expats in the region? Let's face it, Tuscany has become the Florida of Europe, full of upper middle class expatriates who've bought up just about everything there is to buy and experience life as a semi- to permanent vacation. The book reads like Martha Stewart's guide to Italian Home renovation.
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Summary: ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS--WONDERFULLY WRITTEN
Review: Frances Mayes' is a terrific writer. Her book, Under the Tuscan Sun, has inspired me in more ways than just visiting Italy---although I am anxiously awaiting my trip next year. Her easy, no nonsense approach to writing about her daily activities, finds, pleasures, problems etc invites the reader to sit, relax and feel like you're talking to your best friend about her trip. I absolutely loved the book. I've been tempted to take up creative writing and I would love to be one of Frances Mayes' students at SF State. Ms. Mayes' has a beautiful way of expressive vocabulary. The book gets FIVE STARS in my Opinion!!!!
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Summary: Simply delish!!!
Review: I am looking forward to my first trip to Italy this fall, and I am excited about going to several of the resturants and "haunts" I highlighted while reading this book. It is so much more than just the rehabilitation on an old fabulus villa.... it's the grabbing of the brass ring that we so often let slip through our fingers.... it's the romance of life abroad, living it daily. Read this, you won't be sorry!
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Summary: Fantastic although somewhat idealistic picture of Italy.
Review: Having lived in Italy for two years (Naples), I could appreciate the contradictions that life in Italy is sometimes. After the first page the book begged to be read, and it was worth it just for the recipes. Italians are wonderful, passionate and humerous group of people who embrace life in ways that are hard to describe. Francis Mayes does a wonderful job of capturing life in Italy and manages to convey the love which so many of us who live here feel for the country. I was left wondering exactly who Ed is, since she never makes that very clear. But I suppose a little mystery is good for the imagination.
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Summary: Poor Man's "Provence"
Review: Interesting but Mayes is too clinical and detached from her Italian surroundings. Each chapter is a litany of "found an egregious problem, hired some local boys, paid them an extortionate amount of money, and everyone ends up drinking wine on the veranda". Her treatment of the kitchen shows that Mayes wants to change the environment rather than become a part of it. Her interactions with the local population are superficial (year on end she never asks who that guy is who comes to her "shrine" and she doesn't seem to care). When she ventures forth from Cortona, the book decends into bad Baedakker, all the sites and an inch deep. Her ruminations on the potential extermination of the Jews in Italy during the war or her reverence of the Etruscan tombs have as much depth as deciding where the next bruschetta and wine stop is -- the thought comes to her and is quickly discarded. You just get the feeling that none of this really affects her. Also, Mayes' f! inal babbling about the Catholic religion has a disturbingly Ugly American flavor to it. She remains the SF yuppie "playing Italy" rather than "coming home" as she professes. This book wasn't bad. It just didn't leave me with a good taste in my mouth.
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Summary: Absolute keeper.
Review: Lush, vivid, warm and beautifully written, this little treasure deserves every bit of the attention it has received. It's been a long time since I rationed out the last 20 pages of a book, so desperate was I for it NOT to end. We are treated to a celebration of Tuscany, the human spirit and the written word--brava!
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Summary: A sensual trip to Tuscany
Review: Under the Tuscan Sun is one of the most interesting books that I have ever read! This is not a page turner, however. It is a book to be sipped and savored, like a fine wine. It is a languid book, like a stroll down a hot, dusty country lane in summertime. The author paints rich word pictures as she describes food, architecture, people, etc. It is a very sensual book, and describes the type of life that many of us long to lead, if only we could drop out of the ratrace! This would be a good book to read in late winter, as one anticipates the next vacation. I hope that we see a sequel(s) forthcoming!
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Summary: Instant transport to Tuscany!
Review: I found this book firmly attached to my hands..had to force myself to put it down at night. For anyone who has lived in Italy, or even spent a lot of time there, Frances Mayes provides a heart wrenching instant transport back to Tuscany. I found myself so absorbed in her descriptive narrative that I smelled the Tuscan air right here in Connecticut. Talk about homesick?? It was painfully enjoyable reading. I hope Ms. Mayes writes a sequel.
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Summary: an adventure to stimulate the lust for life and joy in Italy
Review: Frances Mayes has written an incrediable book about the love she has developed for Italy, its people and the vast history that that is forever being re- discovered while restoring her wonderous Italian villa .This is wonderful reading for anyone with a dream of creating a life outside of America! I hope that she will write another book to continue where she left off in Under the Tuscan Sun. I loved it!
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Summary: A great escape!
Review: Sure I'll never be able to afford a house a Tuscany. But I don't begrudge Frances Mayes and the mysterious Ed their delight in their home near Cortona. It is obvious that Frances Mayes is a poet as her words engage all the senses of the reader so we can all experience the warm Tuscan sun, smell the herbs and flowers, taste the good cooking, feel the dust and sweat from hard work, revel in the delight of a nap at nine a.m. I'll read this book again.
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