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Summary: Self-Absorbed Twaddle-No Peter Mayle!
Review: I have read a lot of the "lets move to a foreign country and buy a house and live in it" books over the years, and this one is by far the worst of the bunch. Indeed, about half way through I just put the book down and could not finish it...it is just that bad. A lot of the other reviewers who did not like this book have summarized quite well the points which also strike a chord with me, so all I can say is if you want a good book about country life in Italy, get "Extra Virgin" and have a good time reading the book and at least you can identify with the writer, and actually learn something rather than be slathered with pretentious musings. I for one am not interested in someone who is so self-absorbed. Most persons who have typical jobs and responsibilities and budgets to manage just have a hard time identifying with this author.
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Summary: Life as a house
Review: What's in a house? Well, many things, if you have just moved to another country and doing up a house is like doing up your life. In her book o memoirs, 'Under the Tuscan Sun', Frances Mayes recalls her experience when she went to Italy, bought a house and had it done up to live there-- or at least spend some months in that country. With a lot of charm and wit she takes us inside the problem, or changing one's life so drastically. More than working on the house, she's working on her life, making it better. The result is a pleasant reading, funny sometimes, but above all lyric and poetic, evocating magic and the beauty of Tuscany. Food is a whole new chapter in this book. It is impossible read these memoirs and not starve. But, the good thing is that all recipes are included, and you don't need to go to Italy to try them. Thank God, otherwise flights to Italy would be overbooked with Mayes's readers.
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Summary: Was i warped into Italy???
Review: I really want to tell you all the reasons you should get this book. I really do, the problem is there are way too many to name! This is one of those books that is just simply comforting and makes you feel at peace!! It also makes you realize that you are living on the wrong side of the planet!!! Mayes goes into explicit detail her love for Tuscany where the book obviously takes place. In the small medieval town of Cortona, Mayes is adopted by townspeople as one of their own. There she takes up the enormous task of obtaining an old abandoned farmhouse and remodeling inside out. I loved the way that Mayes described Italian life compared to American, for one they have way better food and wine, and they also love to live life to the fullest!! They spend more time with family than with co-workers at an office, and get this they actually eat their lunch in more than a half hour! WOW! This book is satisfying to put it midly, there are no major plot twists, conspiracies or murders, or everything else ascociated with a new york times best seller. It is however a book that you enjoy reading, sit back, relax, server yourself a glass of fine wine and unwind in this beautiful book about Tuscan life!
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Summary: Martha Stewart Goes Italian
Review: Having spent time in Tuscany last summer, I found this book just a bit much. Way too much detail about the Italian workmen...those of us who can't afford to hire someone to do EVERYTHING get a little resentful. I love all things Italian, the people, the food, the wine, the fabulous surroundings...just not this book. A better bet is R. Lewis' City of Florence for an interesting look at the history and culture of Florence and Tuscany.
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Summary: Entertaining despite excessive blather
Review: I'm listening to it on tape now and I'm more than halfway done. Mayes' descriptions of everyday life in Tuscany become charming and lush through the lovely language. The narrator on the tapes could be better, though. It makes me laugh every time she says "BrrrramaSOle". I did hit a really boring patch awhile back though--for almost a whole tape the narrator babbled on and on about working on the house and the contractors [messing] everything up. What I didn't like about the story is Mayes' snobbery about Italy. If she loves it so much, why not live there full-time? She's not even an expatriate, as she lives there only in the summer (at least at the point in the book I'm at now). Her gushing over Tuscany gets tiresome.
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Summary: under the tuscan sun audio cd abridged by frances mayes
Review: i found the story line very good, but they really needed to find a different person as a voice for the audio. not much flare to the story as it was read and i'm sure it would have been alot more interesting with a different reader. i listen to lots of books on audio, it surely could have been better.
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Summary: Voluptuousness of Italian life
Review: "I thought I was strange to feel this way. Since I've met so many people who read Under the Tuscan Sun, I've found out that lots of people feel this way. It's complicated but feels so very easy. The warmth of the people, the human scale of the towns, the robust food, yes, but I've begun to think, too, that it's the natural connection with art, the natural exposure to beauty on a day-to-day basis." -Frances Mayes Frances Mayes presents a sensual celebration of Tuscany with hypnotic descriptions of culinary bliss and everyday rituals on long days when she savors the sun. This is creative writing heaven! She is not only a best-selling author, widely published poet and gourmet cook; she is also a travel writer who can describe lands and culture in sensuous and evocative language. Halfway into the book, I became heady with the desire to just run away to Tuscany. I want to write like her, I want to think like her, I am intoxicated by her creativity. I first fell in love with creative writing when my teacher in Africa explained metaphors to me. It is no wonder I have just completely fallen in love with Frances Mayes writing style. I also discovered she is a creative writing professor at San Francisco State University and has directed The Poetry Center and chaired the Department of Creative Writing. Frances first started visiting Tuscany when she was fresh out of college. In 1985, she rented a farmhouse for the first time and enjoyed going to the local markets to buy suntan lotion and culinary specialties. After this visit, she and Ed rented various farmhouses around Tuscany and finally decided to buy Bramasole. Frances Mayes gives a vivid and compelling account of how she bought and started restoring this farmhouse in Tuscany. "Under the Tuscan Sun" is really an outgrowth of the diary she kept about her experiences when she first moved to Italy. She sees homes as metaphors for the self and gives herself to decorating and renovating them with a certain passion. "The houses that are important to us," she writes, "are the ones that allow us to dream in peace." In sumptuous detail, Frances Mayes describes her home and Italy like a delicate poem as she balances enjoyment of life with responsibility to finishing an extensive renovation. Her writing shows she is most at home in Italy and enjoys immersing herself in words that describe her private escape. She is living the fantasy and sharing every delicious bit of her joy in this fascinating memoir. I love her observations about life. While they sometimes have little to do with Tuscany, they are enlightening. Through gorgeous descriptions, she says: "Life is beautiful, take deep breathes, enjoy food and pleasure." Through intimate reflection, she considers how life changes so we can go forward in our thinking. She writes about tours of ancient churches and towns, fig-pollinating wasps, the ancient tile roof, books with blue leather binding, art, festivals, walks through the piazza, gardens and even gives us her precious recipes. Then she continues to describe lush fruits, vegetables, and flowers, olive groves, orchards, and vineyards violet blue hazes, pelting rain, green landscapes, olive oil, hot waterfalls, olive wood fires, cool walks through chestnut forests, blood oranges, jars of plum jam, mascarpone custard, cherries, bees burrowing in pears, pecorino cheese, fertile earth rich as chocolate cake, wild strawberries, white peaches, fresh herbs and baskets for picking tomatoes. Thankfully I had some fruit cobbler and pecorino in the refrigerator or I would have gone half mad not being able to taste fruit and cheese after listening to the completely delicious descriptions. She also vividly captures a humorous moment when she has cement poured all over her head and gives a hilarious recounting of her first wall-building endeavor. She paints evocative descriptions of nearby Cortona, thinks about Elizabeth David's recipe for peach marmalade and considers passages from books by Henry James and D.H. Lawrance. Her knowledge of the world is impressive and fascinating. I even learned an interesting and amusing fact about James Joyce. I'm going to admit that a few times while listening to the unabridged version narrated by Barbara Caruso, the writing was so beautiful I was at times overwhelmed. I believe many of us feel a deep need to live in an almost rural community where people actually care about their neighbors or at least talk to them. Frances is now an honorary citizen of the town. At the end, she starts to talk about her life growing up in the South and focuses on religion and even makes a few observations about the sensual life and afternoon naps. There are moments throughout the book when she stops to compare her Californian and past Georgian existence with this Italian paradise. While some may say this is domestic sensuality at its best, I think it is love. Love for the land, love of food and love of life. Frances Mayes sees beauty in life and this book will be equally loved by those who also share the desire to find beauty in the simplicity of existence. Many have read this book and have changed their lives. The descriptions of life that moves at a slower pace has the power to make you want to leave America fast and arrive in Tuscany early. Read or listen and then plan your escape! I've just printed out information about a farmhouse in Tuscany. I shall continue to dream. I'm also going to go make some Biscotti! A lyrical account of a love affair with Italy you will never forget. Additional books you might want to possess: Ex Voto, Swan, The Best American Travel Writing 2002, Bella Tuscany and In Tuscany. This review is for the book and the unabridged recorded book version narrated by Barbara Caruso.
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Summary: you'll want to move to Italy after reading this book
Review: I've been fascinated with Italy ever since a brief visit there three years ago. This book brings alive the culture and rhythm of Tuscan living. As the author describes the renovation of the house and grounds and settling into Italian life, you wonder to yourself why life can't be more like that everywhere. This book made me want to go buy a house in Italy too!
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Summary: Mayes on the Money
Review: Freances Mayes is a delightful writer. Both Under the Tuscan Sun and Bella Tuscany provide a leisurely trip through Tuscany. Whether you enjoy the cuisine or delight in the sights, either book is a winner.
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Summary: Not a good audio book
Review: If you want to enjoy this book I recommend reading it--don't listen to the audio book. I'm not sure why publishers invite authors to read their own books because very few do it successfully. Frances Mayes wrote an entertaining book but her voice is as flat as a freeway in Kansas. She seems to think she is reading Beat poetry with her droning monotone and hard emphasis on every random third or fourth word. The tone at the end of every sentence stays level as if the whole book is a poem with no punctuation. The sentences never end in a down tone like they do in normal speach. This is enough to drive the listener insane.
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