Customer Reviews

Italy Out of Hand: A Capricious Tour

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book caught my eye because it looks old and very Italian. I bought it for my husband's birthday and he loved it. In turn, he bought the book for his nephew. This book is part travelog, part nostalgia - just a book to treasure. Whether you're Italian or not, the feel of the book will make you wish more modern day authors would format their books with originality and flair. Today, a book is a book is a book. Hooray for this author!

I love reading guidebooks - to Italy in particular, and bought this book in part because, quite frankly, I couldn't quite figure out what this book was exactly from the description on Amazon and the previous reviews.

"Italy Out of Hand" is a small, nicely and heavily bound book, reminiscent in its physical attributes of a Folio Society Edition. It would make a nice gift for any Bibliophile interested in Italy.

It is not a guidebook that most people will want to take to Italy with them. For one thing, given its size, it's simply too heavy and unfortunately literally not worth its weight in useful information. It will look nice in your bookshelf at home but not something you want to lug around in your suitcase.

Most of the information, such as it is, can be found in more detail and more lucid prose in the latest edition of "Frommer's Italy." There's very little here that experienced visitors to Italy will find new, and what is "new" is often pointless and lacks interesting detail: "So-and-so was the notorious son of the famous so-and-so who traveled to Egypt with So-and-so who became the Duchess of Orsino" or something like that.

The book particularly lacks information pertinent to Italy today. I got the impression that the author relied heavily on 19th-century travel guides and the novels of Stendhal for information. For a book about Italy, there is very little information about food, and hardly anything about life outside of the major cities.

Adding this slim volume to the over 350 books on Italy in my collection, might seem like a very small drop in the over-flowing bucket of delights I already have to entertain myself with; but the pleasure I derived from the sheer book-lover's joy at receiving such a beautiful volume, caused me to have to immediately write a public "Thank You!" for this creation by Barbara Hodgson.

I fell in love with Italy many years ago while on a business trip; and later when I took my family there to explore over 2100 miles of the country over a period of weeks, they were also captivated by this incredible timeless land.

"Italy Out of Hand: A Capricious Tour", takes us all to some of our favorite places (in our hearts and minds, at least), and more that will become our favorites too, when we return again to "Bella Italia".

Again, Thank You Barbara Hodgson, for a wonderful treat, for a fairly jaded book-buyer! Will Hart

Ms.Hodgson swept my feet from under me with this extremely fine work. She is polished and well educated. I learned more about Italy,and most importantly,the inside skinny of thing,from this work,than I have in my lifetime. I cannot praise it enough! She is magnificent,and I think I am in love! Bravo..Ms H. pls read my book..Gypsy Tales:a biker love story..and contact me asap on face book Gypsyjoe DiPasquale

This is a volume on long lost or unique facts concerning the
history and culture of Italy. Genoa is famous for its fine cuisine.

For instance, Pietro Romanengo and family managed a 200 year old pasticceria. In April of 1823, Lady Blessington met Lord Byron in
Genoa. Niccolo Paganini was a child prodigy and virtuoso violinist from Genoa. Alberti was famous for art appreciation. The list of achievers goes on and on.

The work is well worth the price of admission for the pictures alone. This volume would be very valuable for any traveller to Italy.

Italy Out of Hand is so lovely to hold and then one opens the book is taken on a unique and private tour. This book brought me right back to my own experiences in Italy and then some! What a treat.

I LOVE the whole concept of this book. It is well designed & easy to follow. Will take to Rome this fall!
Joan Aikens

Fun book about places we've visited over many years of trips to Italy. Somehow, we missed many very interesting historical details.

Not the usual guide book or even history book but by focusing on a few interesting characters through the centuries, from each major city, the author makes us understand why Italy is so fascinating and indeed, has been fascinating travelers for centuries

I found this book a great introduction to italy,it is a beautiful volume and very intresting to read