Customer Reviews

Travelers' Tales Italy: True Stories

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

 

 

The stories in this anthology truly capture the anomaly that is Italy -- mysterious and obvious, beautiful and ugly, sacred and profane -- as well as the "pull" that Italy has on those of us who were not born to it, but have adopted it in our hearts. I loved the juxtaposition of contemporary stories with quotations from travelers to Italy in past times.

Having just returned from my first trip to Italy a few months ago, I'm still reliving the memories and soaking up information about the people and places in this enthralling country. Although you can't "get beneath the surface" and truly understand the culture during a 2-week bus tour, my armchair traveling since returning has deepened the experience for me and made me eager to return.

The essays in Travelers' Tales allowed me to validate my own experiences and learn about others experiences and impressions of Italy. From interesting, educational and insightful to downright hilarious, I enjoyed every one of the essays. The difficulties of banking and understanding the tax laws, the challenges of traffic, the misconceptions about people in southern Italy, appreciating the churches, artwork and food of Italy are topics revealed by the various contributing authors.

I highly recommend this collection to anyone who has traveled to Italy, is contemplating a trip to Italy, or will never get any further than armchair traveling. There's something for everyone in Travelers'Tales.

This book, like all of the Traveler's Tales books, is the product of thoughtful editing. Here are stories of real people in Italy. And each one seeks to show the beauty and complexity of the place. These are not just the stock images here. These are beautiful, sometimes intense stories about a place that, for so many, is out of reach. This book is a journey. Good, Bad, Ugly and perfect, flaws and all. Read it, enjoy and then, go.

50 short essays divided into 4 sections: the first 2 sections, "Essence of Italy" and "Some Things To Do" have the most appealing, simpatico, essays (though be warned that "The Nicholas Effect" in the last chapter is heartrending without trying to be). Several essays prompted me to buy the books they were excerpted from.

Some folks take themselves too seriously..but enough of those reviewers. I think of these stories as little after-dinner treats. Something to savor after a long day dealing with the real world, knowing in these days of a bad economy and terrorism and jobliness, my chances of getting to Italy are slim. I enjoy the vicarious experience of savoring these adventures-travels in a country that I was never born into, but yearn for all the same.

In the introduction we are regaled to a reminder of the stereotype of the Italian gangster or buffoon. There is a story about a casual sexual encounter that seems entirely out of place in this day of AIDS. Italian men are portrayed as habitually unfaithful to their wives ("The Italian Mistress"). There are excerpts that characterize the "average Italian citizen" as an inveterate cheater. Italians, we are told, are breast-obsessed. This book is a paradigm of the sort of travel writing that romanticizes the exotic "other." I see no reason to think that this brings anyone closer to the "real" Italy and it is silly and simplistic to think otherwise. It would appear that in these days of political correctness it is still considered acceptable to portray Italians in a patronizing way, in contrast with almost every other group or ethnicity. This book is insulting both to Italians and to the reader's intelligence.

Having travelled to Italy so many times, I found that some stories in this book are accurate. I do not agree with the other review, this book is not that bad at all. I agree that there are some stories that are boring, but that's what we see when we have different writers in one book and some are just fantastic. I really enjoy this book and I'm glad I bought it to accompany me during a travel to Spain with my Italian friend, so I asked him a lot of questions about the stories while we were on the road. And that's very entertaining!

This is a delightful volume. Either take it on a trip to Italy to read as you go, or save it up til you come home, read it before planning a trip, or just let yourself go from your armchair or bed (or favourite reading spot).

There is a very brief attempt at some guidebook-style information at the end. i donlt think it is all that useful, and will be long out of date before the travellers' tales are. Still, it is brief enough not to detract. It includes some web addresses and , most usefully, some further reading and full bibliographic details of the excerpts presented.

There are many renowned writers included in this anthology, and of course some I had never encountered before. Some of the better known include Tim Parks ('An Italian Education'), Jonathan Keates ('Italian Journeys'), H.V. Morton ('A Traveller in Italy'), Frances mayes ('Under The Tuscan Sun').

I enjoy the quality of the subjects presented. I did'nt know there is a whole city underneath Rome.

This is a book written by well known authors, journalists therefore the quality is high, brief, informative and generally, good reading.