Florence: A Delicate Case (Writer and the City) (Hardcover)

by David Leavitt (Author) "Florence has always been a popular destination for suicides..." (more)
Key Phrases: Henry James, Scott Moncrieff, Harold Acton (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
David Leavitt brings the wonders and mysteries of Florence alive, illuminating why it is, and always has been, one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.

The third in the critically-acclaimed Writer and the City Series-in which some of the world's finest novelists reveal the secrets of the cities they know best-Florence is a lively account of expatriate life in the 'city of the lily'.

Why has Florence always drawn so many English and American visitors? (At the turn of the century, the Anglo-American population numbered more than thirty thousand.) Why have men and women fleeing sex scandals traditionally settled here? What is it about Florence that has made it so fascinating-and so repellent-to artists and writers over the years?

Moving fleetly between present and past and exploring characters both real and fictional, Leavitt's narrative limns the history of the foreign colony from its origins in the middle of the nineteenth century until its demise under Mussolini, and considers the appeal of Florence to figures as diverse as Tchaikovsky, E.M. Forster, Ronald Firbank, and Mary McCarthy. Lesser-known episodes in Florentine history-the moving of Michelangelo's David, and the construction of temporary bridges by black American soldiers in the wake of the Second World War-are contrasted with images of Florence today (its vast pizza parlors and tourist culture). Leavitt also examines the city's portrayal in such novels and films as A Room with a View, The Portrait of a Lady and Tea with Mussolini.


About the Author
David Leavitt is the author of several novels and short story collections, most recently The Marble Quilt. With Mark Mitchell, he has co-written two books about Italy, Italian Pleasures and In Maremma. He is a recipient of grants from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, and was recently named a Literary Lion by the New York Public Library. David Leavitt divides his time between Tuscany and Gainesville, Florida, where he teaches at the University of Florida.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA (June 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582342393
• ISBN-13: 978-1582342399
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 4.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,105,111 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Definitely Not a Page Turner, June 20, 2002

By	H. F. Corbin "Foster Corbin" (ATLANTA, GA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

What a disappointment. David Leavitt has accomplished almost the impossible. He has managed to make what is in my opinion one of the most beautiful cities on earth dull. This book opens with such a great first line: "Florence has always been a popular destination for suicides." After a few interesting pages, however, I found myself in page after page of virtually unreadable prose. Leavitt even manages to make the moving of Michelangelo's famous statute of David not very interesting. I'm not quite sure what went wrong. I had read his previous book ITALIAN PLEASURES written with Mark Mitchell. While I did not find it the greatest travel book ever written, it was certainly a pleasant enough read.

I was amused to see that Leavitt describes Franco Zeffirelli's autobiographical film "Tea with Mussolini" as making "for a camp spectacle that recalls some of the graver excess committed by Zeffirelli in his career as an opera director." Would that we had a little more camp excess here. Near the end of the book Leavitt's account of the young people or "mud angels" who came to Florence to help save books and art after the flood of 1966 was interesting. If we only had more such stories.

If I didn't already love Florence, this book would not convince me to visit.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed feelings, January 26, 2004

By	saliero (NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

I have mixed feelings about this book. I found the chapter on homosexuality in Florence interesting, but a tiny phrase let it down. In the lesser space accorded the lesbian population, Mrs George Keppel is described as the mother of "yet another" lesbian. As if by there being four or five renowned lesbian inhabitants amongst the far more numerous gay males, they were forming a disproportionately large segment of the population! I found that quite odd.

I also found it difficult to reconcile Leavitt's bitchiness about the lack of contact the earlier generations of ex-pats had with the locals (to the point of "like many" not knowing any Italian) with the lack of presence of any contemporary Florentines in his narrative, given that he is a part-time resident himself.

I loved the chapter about the "mud angels", brief as it was, and would have enjoyed more about the relationship between locals and expats alike with the art of this wonderful city.

Having said all that, I did enjoy the book overall and it is a welcome addition to the background literature of Italy which I read voraciously.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A unique and engaging break from a "travel" book, May 26, 2002

By A Customer

This new series proves to be a very helpful and interesting one, if a bit subjectibe, and Laevitt's work on Florence is compelling indeed. My main problem with his writing is the same problem I have with the rest of his books I've read--one senses he considers himself and his experiences a bit too highly for anybody's good. But while he's not an "original" or a first-rate cultural observer or "arbiter", his learning is put forth in lucid, intelligent prose--with many nice touches.