A Thousand Bells at Noon: A Roman's Guide to the Secrets and Pleasures of His Native City [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Franco G. Romagnoli (Author), G. Franco Romagnoli (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 22, 2002

G. Franco Romagnoli was a mere youth when he left Rome for America, where he made a name for himself as a cookbook author, television personality, and restaurateur. But the love of his native city brought him back to Rome for an extended stay, allowing him to rediscover the sights, smells, and sounds of this urban paradise.

In A Thousand Bells at Noon, Romagnoli shares with readers his visceral and emotional experiences in Rome: its ancient streets and modern shops; it parks; cafés, and hidden gardens; its grand public squares and sacred spaces. As he relives moments from his childhood, reconnects with old friends, and sees through new eyes a modern city steeped in history, you will fall in love with Romagnoli's Rome -- a wondrous place like no other on earth.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despite the subtitle, this book wavers too much between guidebook and memoir, coming up short in both. Romagnoli, a former restaurateur, who starred with his wife in the mid-1970s' television show The Romagnolis' Table, and who published a bestselling cookbook by the same title, left Rome at age 26. What little narrative exists here concerns a six-month return trip that Romagnoli, now widowed and remarried in his 70s, makes to rediscover the city of his youth. In 13 essays with titles such as "Managing Rome" and "Faith in Rome," the author unleashes a torrent of generalized information about history, government, architecture and transportation, among other topics. But Romagnoli relies too much on cliches: Romans are loud and like to exaggerate; Roman men are mama's boys; Romans are obsessed with fashion; Roman bureaucrats are lazy and take bribes. The author's favorite idea is "Rome is a paradox," which is restated repeatedly. Most disappointing is the section "Eating in Rome" one might expect stronger food writing from someone with Romagnoli's background. The book is most compelling when Romagnoli cuts loose from the deluge of information and shares some personal experiences, such as his dinner with a former schoolmate who he once saved from drowning; his recollections of eating "day-fresh" eggs as a child; and his accounts of working as a young cinematographer in the early days of Cinecitte, the famed epicenter of Italian cinema. In his prologue, Romagnoli gives his reason for undertaking his trip: "I realized that all I knew of Rome was her skin, what can be seen and found in a thousand guidebooks." Sadly, there is too little of the intimate experience that Romagnoli clearly knows, and the information he provides rarely goes beyond what one can find in a decent guidebook.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

An accomplished chef, restaurateur, and documentary filmmaker rediscovers the extraordinary delights of his native Rome after an extended, decades-long absence. Although standard travel guides focus on Rome's infinite number of prominent and offbeat tourist sights, Romagnoli concentrates on the people, the feelings, the shared history, and the unique culture that epitomizes a less tangible, far more tantalizing aspect of Rome. By contemplating and analyzing the city's human texture, he provides an insider's view into the central core of one of the world's urban treasures. While strolling through the districts and streets of his beloved Roma, he encounters and interviews countless natives willing to share their unique perspective on the Roman persona and lifestyle. Both the Rome of antiquity and the modern city are well represented in this distinctive tribute. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 300 pages
• Publisher: Steerforth Italia; 1st edition (January 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586420364
• ISBN-13: 978-1586420369
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,594,375 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bravissimo!, December 6, 2002

By 

Barbara Brennan (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Thousand Bells at Noon: A Roman's Guide to the Secrets and Pleasures of His Native City (Hardcover)

Having had the pleasure of living in Rome, I was thrilled to read this book. Franco's memoir of his beloved city is lovingly written and he captures the very essence of what it is like to spend a few months there and really get to know the neighborhoods. To write about Rome is to take on a daunting task: how can you begin to describe a city that is layered with 2,000 years of civilization? The only way is through personal experience and Franco's book opens the door to this most mysterious and wild, yet sophisticated place. A must for anyone planning a trip there and better yet, if you've already been there and want to reminisce.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Always changing yet eternal, February 23, 2008

By 

Linda Pagliuco "katknit" (CT, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Thousand Bells at Noon: A Roman Reveals the Secrets and Pleasures of His Native City (Paperback)

A Thousand Bells at Noon is an affectionate, intelligent essay about the city of this transplanted Roman's birth. Loosely organized by chapter into various topics, it touches upon such subjects as what makes a "true" Roman (it's more than just living there), the impossibly temperamental system of government, the vagaries of historically categorizing Roman places, people, and events, and the joys of wandering Trastevere, one of the oldest and most representative of Rome's many neighborhoods. Romangnoli probably never intended this collection to be either guidebook or memoir, simply the setting down on paper of his thoughts and impressions of a place he knows well and loves dearly. Reading these essays brings back memories of visits to the Eternal City and evokes a bit of its essence.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Remembering Home, December 5, 2004

By 

Erika Mitchell (E. Calais, VT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Thousand Bells at Noon: A Roman Reveals the Secrets and Pleasures of His Native City (Paperback)

This book represents the musings of a native son of Rome, returning for an extended visit home after a lifetime living abroad. Romagnoli, now in his 70s, grew up in Rome, leaving it for America some 50 years earlier with his American wife. As this book begins, the widowed Romagnoli, newly re-married to another American, is returning to Rome to re-establish his ties.

During the tax ride from the airport, Romagnoli considers the concept of "native". He was born in Rome, but that doesn't qualify him as truly Roman. To be truly Roman, all ancestors to 7 generations back must have been born and lived in Rome. While his mother was a Roman, his father was a "pellegrino," an immigrant from the North. The taxi driver points out some of the more recent pellegrinos they pass on the way to Romagnoli's rented flat. This is a suitable introduction to the book-rather than focus on the sights or manners of the Romans, Romagnoli considers broad topics of special import to Italians. In each subsequent chapter, he takes up a different topic in turn, such as government, health care, the fountains, religion, and transportation. But he develops each of these topics from his experiences on this particular trip. By the time you finish reading this book, you will feel you have had a series of long conversations with a Roman about how the city works, and how Romans feel about it.