Rating: 
Summary: A glance at Rome
Review: When it comes to the living-abroad type of travel memoir, I have expectations of depth, insight, and extensive knowledge - hey, an author living in the midst of his subject should have all the time in the world for research and thought, right? And Alan Epstein, with his degree in European history and his work as a guide and lecturer, ought to be able to do even better than your average Mayes, Mayle, or Gervais. Or so I thought when I picked up this book. What I found, though, was that there just wasn't a lot to As the Romans Do; it lacked both the skillful writing and the insightful depth that make up the best travel books. The poor grammar and editing of this book drove me nuts. Epstein uses an awful lot of enormously long, convoluted sentences with no special stylistic rationale. And even he gets lost in his own sentences - if you parse them out, you'll notice lots of missing subjects and lost clauses, lots of five-line fragments. One of the strengths of much of the memoir-style travel writing is the craftsmanship of the writers, but that's definitely not the case with this book. Still, weak writing is survivable; weak content isn't. That's the biggest problem with the book - there just isn't a whole lot of Rome in As the Romans Do. Epstein only skims along the surface, without ever going into depth or revealing anything bigger than himself. Each chapter is just long enough to give the gist of the topic. The true insights that can come from reading about living abroad - insights about the way we are, as well as about the way other people live - are missing in action. In one chapter, Epstein briefly discusses a meeting at his sons' school, using it to illustrate a weak point about the way people argue in Italy. It would have been much more revealing and interesting had he gone into depth about the differences between Italian and American schooling and about his family's experiences with Roman schools. Harriet Welty does this in French Toast (with French schools, of course), and it's the most revealing part of her book - how we educate our children says a lot about who we are. But Epstein doesn't pursue this topic, or any of the others, and left me wishing for more. All in all, this is a very short, light look at one of the world's oldest and richest cultures. I finished the book frustrated by the writing style and disappointed because I'd hoped for much more.
Rating:
Summary: A Bit Dull
Review: While this book is filled with good historical information and while I agree with the majority of the author's views, his style is a bit dull and, at all too many times, the writing is cliched and mannered. (Saying "the rich brew" instead of plain old "coffee" is like the tyro writing "tresses" or "locks" instead of "hair.") And some of his views are a bit old hat. Yes, we all know many Italian women wear lots of gold and makeup and some men are Lotharios, but to use these stereotypes to define the wonderful tapestry of people that live in Rome is a bit passe. Still, it's a worthwhile book to buy and read for any lover of Italy, and Epstein accurately captures that special Roman brand of frenetic energy mixed with cool--and secret-- unflappability.
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