Customer Reviews

Moon Living Abroad in Italy

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My husband and I live part-time in Italy and found a great deal of erroneous information in this book. We buy most books of this sort that are published on the off chance we will learn something new. However, the problems we found in this book make it difficult to trust any of the information it contains.

After casually flipping through this book for only ten minutes, I found it loaded with inaccurate assertions about easily verifiable information, leading me sometimes to wonder whether the author has ever even BEEN to Italy, let alone lived there. Naturally this casts doubt on the credibility of the less easily verifiable assertions it contains as well.

It is absolutely false, for example, that you can obtain Italian citizenship simply "if you have an Italian grandfather and you were born after 1947" (66); I myself meet both these criteria, yet am totally ineligible. Anyone can find the correct requirements, which are much more complex, on the website of the Italian Embassy--for free. The alleged requirements for obtaining a student visa ("relatively easily obtained," 67), and for opening a bank account in Italy ("the process is easy," 108), are similarly oversimplistic and misleading.

Perhaps the most absurd is the author's claim about weather in Rome: "The most you'll need to wear in winter is a lightweight jacket" (162). Any unfortunate expats who rely on this misinformation, shivering in Rome in their "lightweight jackets" as the temperatures frequently plummet into the 30's, may ironically find the one good use for this book, as they might wish to burn it in order to keep warm.

Although travel guides are fraught with the best intentions of being both informative and easily digestible, there are actually a limited number that actually succeed in that undertaking. Writer John Moretti takes factual information and presents it in an interesting and engaging fashion, with just the right amount of both humor and humility to make it more than a guide book and thoroughly enjoyable. Information that is not only based on well researched factual and historical details, but personal anecdotes that the author has personally experienced during his many years of living in Italy. All things from how to enjoy Italy's 20 regions according to the seasons, festivals and cultural activities to very real practical application of how to navigate the every day life of living in Italy. Whether one wishes to make a short trip or an extended one, John walks you through possible itineraries that save you time, money, all the while avoiding the ever present tourist trappings that each region experiences during specific periods throughout the year. He offers up a plethora of intriguing things to see and do that are not splashed on typical travel tourist travel sites, taking you into the heart of each region and its colorful inhabitants. If your goal is to set up residence, then this is a must-have guide. Moretti's information is right on target; having run the gauntlet of Italian beaurocracy personally on my way to receiving dual citizenship and my Italian passport, the author's insightful advice and personal experience could certainly help take the stress out of potentially frustrating situations for those seeking to live in this beautiful but multi-layered country. My copy already has so many dog-eared pages that lending it to interested friends is virtually out of the question. Great for a gift to those with upcoming travel or transferring plans.

Hello,
I would like to say that while the writer can oversimplify certain aspects of moving abroad, the author does a good job of providing the support and encouragement needed for such a venture. I have just obtained my own Italian citizenship, and it is soley due to the fact that my GRANDFATHER was born in Italy (just as the author states). It did take over a year to obtain it however. Also, as for needing a light jacket in Rome, that is all I need when I am there, however, I have a little meat on my bones so I dont need too much insulation. Remember to take everything you hear with a grain of salt...and for extra encourage...go rent the movie "under the Tuscan Sun". Good luck to you, as for me, I'm working on relocating to Puglia Italia!