Reading About Italy: Gio's Book Reviews

"The Italians: A Full Length Portrait Featuring their Manners and Morals," by Luigi Barzini - 1964
This is THE most important book you'll ever read about Italy. Period. If you read one book before visiting Italia for the first time, and you are at all interested in learning more about Italy than what one can learn at a beach, this is THE book: buy it and read it, right now. (:

"La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind," by Beppe Severgnini, 2006
Funny, insightful, contemporary; an ironic but meaningful book, and oh so easy to read; sure to make you laugh or at least smile a lot. A wonderful companion to Barzini's The Italians, above, which is a more serious book with great weight and depth. If you read two books before embarking on your Italian excursion, make this the other one! Call it comic relief, with a point.

"Brunelleschi's Dome: How A Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture," by Ross King, 2001
The man and the artistic and engineering feat that in many ways launched our modern world; a readable, short piece on the incomparable Brunnelleschi, the city-state that spawned him, and a fascinating period in history

"The City of Florence: Historical Vistas & Personal Sightings," by R.W.B. Lewis, 1996
A dense but rewarding read on the history of Firenze written by an American who saw the city in World War II and later lived there as an expat. Lewis not only describes this wonderful city and many of its major sites, but relates his own personal experiences year, with a healthy dose of Florentine history thrown in for good measure. If you intend to read just one book on Florence, make it this one.

"Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe," by Bill Bryson, 1993
The American travel writer Bryson leads the reader on a witty, sarcastic and insightful trip through Europe (including parts of Italy) replicating a journey he made as a much younger man. A small book, and definitely worth the read.

"Europe 101: History & Art for the Traveler," by Rick Steves & Gene Openshaw, 2007
Exactly what the title of this treasure suggests: just enough detail to help the traveler make some sense out of the breathtaking art, architecture, historial sites, and cultures he or she will encounter when in Europe (including Italy). A great guide to historical periods, architectural traditions, symbolism in art, and even biographies of important players. Full color photographs, helpful graphics and charts, and a whimsical but intelligent tone make this work worth buying and reading more than once as you explore Italy over the course of many years.

"Europe Through the Back Door," by Rick Steves, 2007
Steves' bible: how to travel to Europe and ensure that at least some of what you experience is beyond the crass, cheapened made-for-tourists Europe...a travel philosophy about how entering through back doors opens up a whole new world of local people, customs, and human connections. Absolutely FULL of tips for the first-time traveler abroad. A must.

"Venice from the Ground Up," by James H.S. McGregor, 2006
A complex, detailed account of the magical city of Venice and how it came to be, including highly-specific examinations of Venetian architectural traditions. Rich, interesting, and even captivating in places, but also very dense and almost overwhelming in its depth. Includes some degree of architectural jargon. Worth the time and energy, but probably best for those most interested in architecture.

"Stolen Figs and Other Adventures in Calabria," by Mark Rotella, 2003
Rotella explores, at first on a trip with his father to Calabria and then through an extended stay with relatives on his own, his family's past and the rich cultural and historical roots of the Italian southland. Rotella's writing is warm, interesting, and even a little sentimental, but the understanding and appreciation he develops for the Italian south, its history and food and people and struggles through years of poverty and oppression and chaos, makes this book worth your time even if you're not planning on visiting Calabria.

"Rick Steves' Italy 2009," by Rick Steves
The guidebook for Italy, excepting Calabria. The recommendations for hotels, restaurants, and cultural experiences have been right-on-target for us. A very highly recommended guide. Regular online updates at RickSteves.com ensure the most accurate travel information possible. We pull the pages we need for a particular trip right out of the book, 'bind' them along with our itinerary using simple binder rings, and we've got an easy compact guide for our excursion that is lightweight and fits comfortably in a pocket. The guide includes self-guided tours of many sites and cities, easy-to-read maps, and Steves still visits the locations featured in his guidebook personally.

"Ciao, America: An Italian Discovers the U.S," by Beppe Severgnini, 2007
Beppe is back! This time, he moves with his wife and children to America (Washington, D.C.), to live for a year and explore the US from an Italian's eyes...smart and readable...and hilarious! Our obssession with air conditioning is especially funny in this light. But the book reveals less about the Italian character than La Bella Figura. Still, a quick and enjoyable read. Not very deep, but not without insight, either. A great read when you're not up for something requiring a whole lot of concentration.

"The Dark Heart of Italy," by Tobias Jones, 2005
The analysis Jones offers on Berlusconi's rise to power, the notion of a divided Italy (into two bitter and violent political and cultural camps), and the insights into the impossibility of ever getting at a consensus on 'the truth' in Italian history and politics...these make this book worth the effort to wade through a few too many pages of names, dates, details, and words in Italiano. Reads like an attempt to place contemporary Italy, with all of its problems, frustrations, AND beauty and vibrancy, into a meaningful historical context, and on this level, I think this book works. Also, Jones' notion of Italy's historical obsession with appearances and beauty (what Severgnino calls "La Bella Figura")--seemingly at the cost of substance--being, in reality, a concept of beauty that necessarily includes a moral goodness (he points out that even Berlusconi's supporters, despite his looks, charm, wealth, success and power, don't describe him as beautiful), is fascinating, and certainly rings true. The Italian concept of beauty, he argues, is more than cutting a good figure in Armani: it includes an inherent human goodness, as well. In the end, Jones offers some heartfelt and powerful insights into this amazing yet troubled country, and while the organization/structure of the book could be tighter, more logical, pushing through rewards the reader seeking to make sense of the seeming chaos of Italian life.

"In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made," by Norman Cantor, 2002
An almost scary book comparing the Great Plague to a nuclear holocaust in terms of the devastation it caused to the society of its time...but then also comparing the spread of the disease to the potential for contemporary biological warfare waged by terrorist groups. Some surprising and fascinating info on the origins and spread of the plague (more than just those damned rats), but overall, a mediocre read.

"Florence and the Medici," by John Rigby Hale, 2001
Intriguing topic: one of the most important and greatest cities in world history--and the family that ruled it. Some detailed exploration of the family rivalries and bitter fighting that marked Italy's long history after Rome's fall and before unification (giving one a good sense of life in Florence during the Renaissance)--but given that this Italian city really launched the modern world (and, to an extent, the nature of every city that followed), the writing here is awfully dry and uninteresting.

"Venice: Tales of the City," by Michelle Lovric, 2005
Historical excerpts about the most unique city in the history of the world, from natives and visitors and travelers from across the planet. On the whole, a rich and rewarding book, although some of the excerpts require so much setup for them to make sense...probably could have been a bit shorter, tighter. Still, leaves the reader with some amazing mental images, i.e., early Venetians, fleeing so-called Barbarians after Rome's fall, driving oak pilings deep into the lagoon to support the islands (talk about a safe, out-of-the-way location to settle!), and the songs they sang, and some of Casanova's exploits, real and imagined, in explicit detail. Pretty neat stuff.

"A Short History of Venice: Pacini Small Library 4," by Gherardo Ortalli, 2001
Great little history of Venezia, part of a series published in Italy and translated into other languages, including English. Picked it up in San Marco for about seven euros, and it's interesting and easy to read. Fits in your pocket, too!

"Postcards from Europe: 25 Years of Travel Tales from America's Favorite Guidebook Writer," by Rick Steves, 1999
Steves pulls from many years of European travel to share thoughts and stories that reveal much about each place and culture, AND about us as Americans, too. A strangely dark book, in a way, with Steves lamenting the loss of authentic experiences at the hands of packaged big-bus tourism, cheap and made-to-order. Reminds me of Thomas Jefferson's statement that travel makes one sad, somehow. Also reveals an interesting internal struggle within him: as a famous guide and promoter of European traveler, he inadvertently contributes to the very problem he laments: local areas over-run with tourists that inevitably change the places forever. Still, his notion that European travel makes one a better citizen of the world--and is thus worth the cost, to the traveler and the places visited--rings true, in the end. Steves explores this theme in great depth in Travel as a Political Act, another fine book, a manifesto, really, that seeks to demonstrate how thoughtful travel can help bridge cultural divides and create empathy across ethnic, religious and national boundaries where it might not otherwise exist. The Postcards book is okay, but not as interesting nor as valuable as his Italy guidebook (updated annually), or his art and history for travelers text, or Travel as a Political Act. Die-hard Rick Steves fans will enjoy Postcards, but probably not for everyone.

"Customs & Etiquette of Italy," by Hugh Shankland, 2005
This series offers small little books with cultural insights and practical advice for getting along in a variety of countries. The Italy book is okay, with the highlight being a series of sketches explaining common gestures employed by Italians...they're hysterical! A handy little book to read first, if you've never been (will take about an hour to read), but if you know Italy, it's not of any use to you.