Rating: 
Summary: Good book, but...
Review: "Ciao America" is a fun book for all the people that know Italians, their daily habits and problems with the "Italian system". "Ciao America" is a good book for whoever wants to learn a bit more on how Italians look at the American way of life. Beppe Severgnini is a smart writer that, for a period of time, was considered a good kept secret. But when success came about with the Italian version of "Ciao America" I believe he lost track of reality. I consider him a "fan" of the Italian opposition party (socialist/communist) and I believe he betrayed his former editor, Silvio Berlusconi, for opportunistic reasons. Not good!
Rating: 
Summary: Friend or foe?
Review: "Ciao America" is an OK book for all the people that know Italians, their daily habits and problems with the "Italian system". Beppe Severgnini is an ok writer that, for a period of time, was considered a good kept secret. But when success came about with the Italian version of "Ciao America" I believe he lost track of reality. I consider him a "fan" of the Italian opposition party (socialist/communist) and I believe he betrayed his former editor, Silvio Berlusconi Now the Italian Prime Minister & strong US allied, for opportunistic reasons. Now he betrays the USA by campaigning against the US coalition. Not good! Do not support him!
Rating: 
Summary: cute and fluffy
Review: A good book to read if you want (1) a book you can finish in a day and (2) to feel grateful to be an American. The author generally praises America in a variety of ways; the most interesting parts praised corporate customer service and government bureaucracy- both objects of frequent criticism among Americans who have never seen how badly other countries do it.One weakness: the author views America through rose-colored glasses. Poverty, crime, etc. get short shrift. But I disagree with the commenters who accuse this book of "Beltway bias." Many of the things the author discusses (the idea that "no one walks" and obesity, for example) are much, much truer in the rest of America than they are inside the Beltway.
Rating:
Summary: Amusing and insightful
Review: A light-hearted look at American mores and foibles from an Italian journalist. He finds himself amazed by the efficiency of American bureaucracy and telephones, encouraged by shop clerks' smiling helpfulness, and bemused by such American institutions as the pancake house, political correctness, and love of pointless gadgetry. It's not exactly hilarious stuff, but it's intelligent and informed, and Severgnini obviously has a lot of affection for the New World, despite our very real penchant for leaving air conditioning at frigid levels. He's a literate, bilingual journalist, yet he looks on with amusement and understanding at even our appalling informal spelling ("C U L8R," "E-Z-Brite" --- argggh!). We Americans couldn't ask for a more sympathetic observer.
Rating: 
Summary: Stranger in a Strange Land?
Review: A stranger in a strange land? I think not. I get the distinct impression that Mr. Severgnini--and I do want to get his name spelled correctly since he says we Americans can't spell-- really had a good time the year that he spent in Georgetown. I know I certainly had a good time reading this often very funny book. He pokes fun at Americans and all our foibles with great wit and little or no mean spiritedness. There are few aspects of America that Mr. S.-- I'm not taking any chances on misspelling his name-- misses. He covers malls, freeway drivers, obesity, casual attire, overly friendly waiters, political correctness, our obsession with shopping, being in control, being organized, numbers and air conditioning, to name a few. One of my favorite paragraphs from this book is Mr. S's take on America's bad taste or what he calls "large-scale wanton tackiness." "The hero figures of this America are Mae West, Liberace, Muhammad Ali, Joan Collins, and Ivana Trump. Larger than life personalities who at first sight, and often at second or third, are beyond comprehension. How can they like that stuff? The sacred places of this America are Las Vegas, Atlantic City, every bar in the state of Texas, and every swimming pool in California, as well as 90 percent of official ceremonies and any sports event you care to mention." This is a statement difficult to dispute. I'm not completely convinced that this writer could get an objective view of the U. S. from hanging out with Washington types. I wouldn't say that people inside the Beltway, as the media would have us call them, are good examples of what Americans are like. I wonder if he would have sung a different tune if he had spent a year, for instance, in Nashville, Kansas City or Miami or some other large U. S. city besides Washington. At any rate, this book is a great read. I recommend reading it during these Dog Days of summer in a very cold air conditioned room!
Rating: 
Summary: Provincial
Review: and oh, so 90's. The author's trenchant observations are on the level of: <Americans are fat. Black people say "ax" instead of "ask." And who is going to use this wacky new invention "the internet" anyway?> I give the book one star for the discussion of air conditioning; my European friend got a massive head cold this August from the alternating blazing DC sun and the freezing DC interiors. A book for supercilious expats, leave the rest of us alone.
Rating:
Summary: Witty and astute
Review: Arriving in April, 1994, Italian journalist Severgnini chronicles his year in Georgetown with sardonic humor, enthusiasm and affection. "You don't go to America. You go back, even if it's only your first trip. Our brain is so full of American information that the country offers a never-ending sequence of déjà vu sensations." And yet, for us, the American reader, never has the familiar and everyday seemed so odd. From shopping to dining out; from frequent flier miles to motels, from Independence Day to Christmas, from church services to yard sales, Severgnini plunges into America with gusto, noting our puzzling penchants for comfort (buying a recliner), air-conditioning (finally won over during a Washington heat wave), too many breakfast cereals and ice (resistant to the end). He moves from puzzled to enthusiastic, from appalled to amused and softens his criticisms with humor. Shopping and bureaucracy get special attention. The mall: "After one hour, Europeans are enjoying themselves like spoiled children. After two hours, they are scooping things up like refugees from the former Soviet bloc." The generous returns policy stimulates a heady urge to cheat ("hand them back when the new model comes out), disarmed by the amazingly helpful, cheerful and energetic service people vying with each other to offer the best deals and the friendliest service in the spirit of American competition. (This may surprise the average consumer, but in a postcript added in 2000 Severgnini notes that service has deteriorated.) American bureaucracy is even better: "the greatest satisfaction....because, having trained on the Italian version, we feel like a matador faced with a milk cow." Of course, he's not always so enthusiastic and while it's much more fun to be marveled at than criticized, or worse, ridiculed, (political correctness, euphemisms, an inability to spell), he keeps the tone light and clever and savages his own countrymen with equal enjoyment. While the Washington setting is somewhat culturally limiting and it's amazing (and very American) how much has changed in seven years (this was the height of the Gingrich era and the beginning of the internet explosion), Severgnini's skewed European view (Spam? Law abiding American drivers?) is a delight.
Rating:
Summary: Not what I was hoping for
Review: As an American living in Rome, I thought it would be interesting to get the opposite perspective. This book was charming at times but mostly rather boring. Save your money.
Rating:
Summary: Clearly Politically Motivated
Review: As usual some italians never miss a chance to complain and bash about things they either don't have or don't understand. Clearly the author has been living in the stone age far too long. What does he mean with "How many people have actually ever bought an airline ticket over the internet?". Probably every single person I know! Or "How many people have actually ever sent data over the internet?". Practically the entire US population! His observations are not only shallow and over analyzed, most of them are just not accurate. Further, he fails to capture the true underlying issues embedded in the American way of life. The social and cultural issues that are ripping this country apart. A very poor analysis of non-issues that are, for the most part, just a result of his ignorance. His arrogance. Money NOT well spent I must say. P.S. I am an Italian living in the US.
Rating:
Summary: Ciao Bella!
Review: At first reading of the first chapters, each named for a month of the one year of transplanted residence of the author and his wife from Crema, Italy to the Georgetown suburb of Washington, DC, the laughs come so readily that the beauty of the message seems secondary. Beppe Severgnini relates his encounters with "America" with such finesse that it is jolting to realize that we are reading a translation (kudos to Giles Watson for his inherent understanding of aphoristic Italian!) instead of hearing the author just speak to us. Once the comedic vein is established, then we are able to thoroughly enjoy laughing at our own American foibles. What a bizarre culture we have when mirrored through the eyes of so astute an observor. This is a terrific little book to pass along to friends who are about to embark on a European sojourn....or better yet, to share with new neighbors on your block who are recent imports to our crazy country. Much to be enjoyed here: more to be learned about ourselves. A fine summer read.
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