The Wisdom of Tuscany: Simplicity, Security & the Good Life [Hardcover]

Ferenc Máté (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 21, 2009

By the author of the international bestseller The Hills of Tuscany and the New York Times Notable Book A Vineyard in Tuscany: making the Tuscan life-style your own.

This sun-drenched land has become synonymous with the ideal life. But it didn’t happen by chance. Since the Etruscans, the independence-loving Tuscans have treated their breathtaking countryside with sagacious respect and built hamlets and hill towns in which they perfected a culture of simplicity, beauty, neighborliness, good food, and love of daily life.

Ferenc Máté has lived in Tuscany for twenty years. Through personal experience and anecdotal history he explores the sources of this idyllic existence, which provides continuous economic stability, physical and emotional security, and a fortifying sense of belonging. From their organic gardens to their mouthwatering cuisine, from high-quality, craftsmen-made products and family-run businesses, to the joys centered in human contact and community, Tuscans live a healthy, all-senses-satisfying, emotionally rich life. Máté—engaging, funny, and insightful—nudges us all to live like Tuscans. With our frantic world so storm-tossed and rudderless, this might just be the book for our times.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“One of the best books on Italy this year—I recommend The Wisdom of Tuscany to all who celebrate Italy.” (Truby Chiaviello - Primo )

“It’s possible to learn from distant travels and put those lessons to use at home. [Máté] uses the people of Tuscany as examples of folks who have learned the art of living within the community…possessing creative practicality, down-home humor and relentless optimism.” (The Salt Lake Tribune )

“Through anecdotes and some absolutely mouth-watering recipes, Máté celebrates the warmth and simplicity of his adopted homeland...The Wisdom of Tuscany celebrated by Máté appeals to me on several levels, as I’m sure it will appeal to many of you.” (San Francisco Book Review )

“A book that will delight the senses and rekindle anyone’s sense of adventure. Máté tells us how to live the good life, casting off the impersonal and rededicating ourselves to the deeply personal. A lovely thought for these times.” (Martha Stewart Living Radio )

About the Author

Ferenc Máté is a noted photographer and the best-selling author of The Hills of Tuscany. He and his family run their vineyards and winery in Montalcino, Tuscany.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Albatross; 1st edition (September 21, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0920256651
• ISBN-13: 978-0920256657
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #864,301 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ferenc Máté was born in Hungary and escaped after the revolution at the age of eleven. He grew up in Vancouver, and has lived in California, Paris, the Bahamas and New York. He had worked on a railroad extra-gang and as a boatbuilder, photographer, deckhand and book editor. His many books include the nautical bestsellers "From a Bare Hull," "Shipshape," and "The World's Best Sailboats," as well as the acclaimed "Autumn," "A New England Autumn," "A Reasonable Life," "The Hills of Tuscany," "The Wisdom of Tuscany," and the Dugger/Nello series of high seas adventures. He and his family run their vineyards and winery in Montalcino, Tuscany.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Reasonable Life revisited, October 31, 2009

By 

Mark Anderson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wisdom of Tuscany: Simplicity, Security & the Good Life (Hardcover)

Ferenc Mate is no armchair dilettante tossing pearls of wisdom from the comfy fireside of his Tuscan Villa. This guy has walked the talk. He's lived in at least 6 countries, built houseboats, cabins and knocked around 40 countries before settling in Tuscany twenty years ago where he restored a 13th century friary and built a world class winery. No trust fund baby, he started life as a war refugee and made his way with wit and hard work.
A few years back he wrote an excellent book called A Reasonable Life which was a call to action for a return to a more human existence.
This isn't so much another dreamy Tuscan memoir as it is a call for a revolution. Not a rebellion in the political sense but a call for a change in the way we live which is killing us and robbing us of the simple joy of living.
Rampant consumerism, bad food, over amped lifestyle, driving to the poorhouse in our new cars, all stuff we've heard before but never has it had such relevancy as we deal with our current econmic crisis. Like swallowing a bitter pill with a spoonful of honey, The Wisdom of Tuscany is a window on a dream which isn't so much about place as it is about how we go about the business of living. Ferenc Mate points the way.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Old World prospective, January 6, 2010

By 

Dominic Romano "Italian farmer" (Dana Point, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Wisdom of Tuscany: Simplicity, Security & the Good Life (Hardcover)

Once my wife gifted me this book on Christmas Eve, I couldn't put it down. Ferenc spoke volumes of my inner Italian dream of living life simpler and with more purpose. Our innate human drive is to make the most with less and Ferenc has reiterated this concept numerously in various forms of Old World traditions, most nobly through the culinary richness of Tuscany. Who knew? We all do but just need reminded on a regular basis. Ference is a messenger with la storia. I plan to pass this book on to old friends and new acquaintances. I highly, highly recommend this book.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unexpectedly deep, April 11, 2010

By 

C. G. King (Horse Country, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

I expected another wonderful memoir of Tuscan life, but found a thoughtful look at how that simple society works illustrated with charming vignettes and personal experiences. I'm a big fan of Maté's Tuscan books and still consider The Hills of Tuscany the best of the Tuscan memoirs I've read so I was happy to pick up this new one. As I got into it, I was at first, a little disappointed that it wasn't another 'day in the life' book, but as I read I became engrossed in the lessons of wisdom the simple lifestyle conveys. While at times, I felt a little 'preached to', I agreed with the concepts and thought they were well delivered. I always enjoy Maté's easygoing writing style. I can see the value of the people-oriented close society that unconsciously teaches children lessons no iPhone or video game can. Tuscany continues to draw crowds of tourists not just for the art, the scenery and the food, but for the allure of the lifestyle rooted in tradition and family. Whatever we can do to bring more of that sense of community back into our lives helps and the ideas presented here are woven together with a visit to a delightful place of deep and ancient culture. I also loved the recipes included at the end of the book and the descriptions of how they came to be Tuscan classics.

I started reading this book at the same time I was reading Frances Mayes's new book and this is the one that grabbed me. I'm still working on the other. While this is not a memoir in the traditional sense, it offers another way to look at Tuscan life--for the lessons it teaches.