Rating: 
Summary: A lot of stereotypes
Review: Also if I am Italian, I don't think that we must undervalue Italian's faults; but this book is a list of stereotypes (altought brilliantly narrated) that don't help to know Italy and the Italians.
Rating:
Summary: A lot of stereotypes
Review: Also if I am Italian, I don't think that we must undervalue Italian's faults; but this book is a list of stereotypes (altought brilliantly narrated) that don't help to know Italy and the Italians.
Rating: 
Summary: That fine Hofmann sensibility ...
Review: Any American with a genuine interest in Italy and its people should read all the tales of Hofmann on the subject. Begin anywhere, but do not neglect That Fine Italian Hand.An expatriot Austrian since the eve of WWII, Hofmann describes l'Italia with the intimacy of 50-odd years living there - combined with the objectivity of one who admits he will never BE an Italian. Far from being over critical, Hofmann is almost heartbreakingly aware of both the many glories of "Italianness" and the equally numerous shortcomings. He finds both to be essentially inseparable and probably indispensable to the very survival of the place and its people. Paul Hofmann's work never fails to educate - even while it entertains. History, culture and anthropology in an easy-to-digest ragout.
Rating:
Summary: That Unbalanced Hoffmann Hand
Review: If Italy and the Italian people are as bad as Paul Hoffmann makes them out to be in his "That Fine Italian Hand" then why has he been a non-Italian living in Italy for most of his life? His book focuses on the peculiarities and eccentricities of Italian life in a blatant attempt to make the Italians look like a nation of fools. Hoffman fails to balance descriptions with the other side of Italian life... that beautiful, colorful, lively and loving side that so many other cultures are lacking! Instead Hoffman describes ad nauseum some of the foibles of Italian life in an attempt to make the reader snicker. Hoffmann's book is ethnocentrism and cultural elitism at its worst. If the reader wants a honest look at Italian Life try Tim Park's "Italian Neighbors" instead. Parks is able to relate the ups and downs of Italian life as a non-Italian living in Italy. You will learn what it is about Italy that made Parks decide to stay in Italy and raise his children there.
Rating: 
Summary: Spent too much time in the newsroom
Review: If you want to be hit over the head with every anti-Italian sentiment and anecdote from an erudite former newsman, this is the book for you. As factual as the information may be, the focus is lacking (that is, there is no real focus, other than "Italians do everything wrong"), and the knowledge imparted does not leave the reader with the sense that he/she has actually learned anything that one couldn't get from any mediocre mafia movie. I really wanted to like this book...
Rating:
Summary: Battering the reader into sumbission
Review: If you want to be hit over the head with every anti-Italian sentiment and anecdote from an erudite former newsman, this is the book for you. As factual as the information may be, the focus is lacking (that is, there is no real focus, other than "Italians do everything wrong"), and the knowledge imparted does not leave the reader with the sense that he/she has actually learned anything that one couldn't get from any mediocre mafia movie. I really wanted to like this book...
Rating: 
Summary: Unflattering -- but accurate portrait
Review: Most of the reviews have to do with not liking what he has to say about Italians -- they can't really question the accuracy of the information, which is fondamentally sound. Italians or those of Italian descent may not find it a flattering portrait, but it is worth reading just the same. The author has done his homework and most of the data still holds after 10 years...
Rating:
Summary: Indispensible for first time visitor to Italy!
Review: My favorite book by one of the most prolific authors of the italian cultural scene. Hofmann leaves no doubt as to his love for his adopted home, yet far from being a chamber of commerce puff piece, he endeavors to portray the real italy to his readers. Anybody traveling to Italy would do well to read this book, I've traveled to Italy on several occasions and find myself returning to this book again and again.
Rating:
Summary: Why bother?
Review: Paul Hoffman's "That Fine Italian Hand" is perhaps the most mean-spirited, humorless and unrewarding book that I have read in years. I can't imagine why he ever bothered to write a book about a people and a nation that he appears to despise so thoroughly. (Let alone why he chose to live there for so many years.) Save your money and keep it out of the hands of this bitter, bitter man.
Rating:
Summary: Spent too much time in the newsroom
Review: Perhaps Paul Hoffman has spent too much time in newsrooms... After all, newscasters' job is to unearth the seedy, the awful, the criminal, the negative. And that's precisely what you'll read in this book. Hoffman offers a mind-numbing slew of negative stereotypes (as thoroughly researched as they may be, one could also provide dozens of anecdotes to support prejudices against the Irish, Jewish peoples, Africans, Swedes...). In this book, Hoffman tries to explain EVERY reason for EVERY problem Italy has EVER experienced--from littering and crotch-scratching to poor governmental structure to tax evasion. It's as one-sided a book as any of those awful "I bought the most beautiful house in Tuscany and had the most beautiful time with the most beautiful people" travelogues... just replace the word "beautfiul" with "bad."
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