No comments about Fast Talk Italian - Essential Language for Short Trips (Lonely Planet).

4 comments about The Hill Towns of Italy.

1. This book is mostly a picture book (and the pictures aren't that great) with little information. Having spent time in all of these towns, the pictures do not do justice. Also, the author concentrates on towns that are full of tour buses and very unpleasant - especially during season. There are so many more hill towns in Umbria and Tuscany that are more out of the way and charming. I guess I should be greatful that they weren't disclosed so that they stay less touristy!



2. OK, my grandfather, Richard Kauffman (now deceased), spent 12 years photographing the eternal beauty of the hill towns of italy and all of the photographs in this book, now in its second reprint, were lovingly color-separated personally by him in his garage. He wouldn't even trust another printer with the quality of his images, being a printer by trade himself. Family bias aside, having since travelled to the towns, he captures Sienna as if you were there. Enjoy it as we do...



3. The book is in good condition, and provides the information I need. It came very quickly. BUT -- it was supposed to be a paperback book and it is hardback. I wanted paperback so that I could take it with me when I travel!



4. While the information in this book is very interesting, we had hoped for a few more pictures of the Tuscan countryside.

1 comments about A Civilized Traveller's Guide to Turin.

1. Everything you need in a guide book, wonderful reviews, detailed descriptions of everything Turin and outstanding photography. This is a must-read for anyone interested in visiting Turin or anyone who is planning on going to the Olympics. The author displayed a wonderful sense of writing a guide book.
   
   -NW

1 comments about Florence in Detail: A Guide for the Expert Traveler.

1. When it became known that Rizzoli and the International Herald Tribune were collaborating on a series of guidebooks to Rome, Venice, and Florence, I had great hopes. Alas, while this (and the other city offerings) are adequate, they fail to break new ground by providing useful information not already available from other sources, including the Internet.

   The visitor to Italy minimally requires at least three types of information: Sites and Attractions; Lodging; and Food. Addiitionally, rampant consumerism also mandates information on Shopping.

   The In Detail series touches all these bases, but most of the detail falls in that first category-- Tourist Attractions. In the latter two (or three) categories, In Detail provides thumbnail information on lodging choices, restaurants, shops, etc., but there are other books which concentrate primarily on food/lodging, and these cover those important decisions in greater detail.

   What I found particularly disappointing is the graphic design of the maps, which should have been this series strongest point. Instead, too many green numbered sites seem lost in the fold of the pages or disappear into the greenery of the map. Finding a particular location sometimes feels like an all-green version of "Where's Waldo?"-- you know that numbered spot is somewhere on these pages, put where, dammit, where? Suffice it to say that because of poor graphics, the maps are very disappointing and difficult to use. And far below what one expects from Rizzoli, the renowned purveyor of high quality art books!

   Another less critical cavil is that the overall quality of the photographs is noticeably uneven. Some are typical tourist bureau publicity shots, while others seemed to have been taken by your average disposable camera tourist . The composiiton, color quality, lighting, etc., leave much to be desired, and a glance at the photo credits would seem to indicate that in many instances poor snapshots instead of professional photographs were indeed utilized.

   In summary then, as an entry into the "One Guidebook" race, this series competes with Cadogan, Eyewitness, Fodor's, Frommer's, Access, Let's Go, etc., offering much of the same information-- some new, some quite familiar. None are perfect; you pay your money, you make your choice.

   At the same time, if you plan on staying in Florence (or Venice or Rome) for more than a few nights, then you might also want to seek out the more specialized guides, such as Duncan Petersen's "Charming Small Hotels" or Sandra Gustafson's "Cheap Sleeps" and "Cheap Eats," Faith Heller Willinger's "Eating in Italy," or Emily Miller's "Food Lovers Guide to Florence." These specialized guides are definitely worth considering-- and provide much more information to help you decide where to eat and sleep. (And Gustafson's maps are in legible black and white).

5 comments about When in Rome.

1. From the first Ngaio Marsh book I read (_Death in a White Tie_)I was hooked. Now, reading my fourth Marsh novel, _When in Rome_, I can say that I like her even better than Agatha Christie. _When in Rome_ is about a group of tourists (incl. the famous Inspector Alleyn) whose guide suddenly disappears. Only Inspector Alleyn, who joined the tour because he suspects that the guide is a key member of a drug ring, is worried about his disappearance; most of the tour group couldn't care less. In fact, a few of them couldn't be happier that the seedy Mr. Mailer has conveniently vanished.



2. Having read all of Agatha Christies novels I never thought that I would find an author comparable to her. Yet, after reading most of the Ngaio Marsh books I believe it is time to start comparing Agatha Christie to Ngaio Marsh. A great example of this can be found in When in Rome. In this book, Chief Superintendent Roderick Alleyn gets himself involved in a guided tour in an old church site in Rome. When the rather disrepeptable tour guide vanishes and a murder in unearthed in the underground portion of the old church, Alleyn finds himself in the thick of it. Together with the Italian Police, Alleyn trys to sort out the possible suspects. Marsh is at her very best as she takes the reader on a magical mystery tour of Rome. As always, her character descriptions are flawless and the plot moves along in rapid fashion. This book is on a par with Grave Mistake and many of her others. A great read and a superb mystery. Ngaio Marsh is can well be considered one of the best Brittish authors of the century.



3. WHEN IN ROME presents us with a tantalizing tale of Mr. Sebastian Mailer, an up-scale tour guide whose idea of showing his guests the town ranges from artistic landmarks to drug laden dens of iniquity. Unfortunately, Mailer also laces his mixture with a spot of blackmail, so it is no great surprise to Chief Inspector Alleyn, on duty in Rome, when a body turns up where no body should be.
   
   Among the great authors of 20th Century mystery fiction, Ngaio Marsh was particularly noted for her ability to create unique characters and place them in memorable settings--and WHEN IN ROME offers her the opportunity to do precisely that. But in this instance Marsh overplays her hand. The novel is tainted by repeated condensending British jibes at Italy, some faintly hilarious ideas about drug use, and what can only be described as indirect but nonetheless obvious sneering fits of homophobia.
   
   In the end, this is novel that established Marsh fans will want to read--but it is also a novel that not even established Marsh fans will consider in the same league with such brilliant works as BLACK AS HE'S PAINTED, DEAD WATER, or OVERTURE TO DEATH, to name but a few. Readable, even amusing, but ultimately dismissable.
   
   GFT, Amazon Reviewer



4. This late (1970) Marsh book is worthwhile reading for Marsh fans. Unfortunately, it does not compare well to some of the more classic Alleyn books from earlier in her career. Marsh was at her best writing about earlier days. Her misunderstandings and often (unintentionally) comic view of youth culture during the late 1960s/early 1970s is one of the unfortunate hallmarks of this period in her writing.
   
   In When in Rome, Alleyn registers for a tour incognito to try to crack a drug and blackmailing ring run by a thoroughly unpleasant fellow. When the fellow in question turns up dead, he and his fellow tourists have a great deal of thinking to do about guilt and innocence.
   
   Truthfully, this is probably a three star book. I gave it four stars because of the extra Ngaio Marsh spark which can make even a tedious book worth the time to read. Recommended, as I said, for Marsh fans. Readers new to her work should choose one of the novels from the 1930s through 1950 as a first experience.



5. The deficiencies here are glaring. Two of the victims are villains and the third hisses a few words, spits at one of the villains, and is gone, never to reappear except as a dead body. We don't miss any of them and don't really care who killed them. The central characters are never remotely in danger of being suspected. The most interesting feature of the story is a fictional twelth-century basilica built atop a third-century church, which had itself been built atop a house dating from Mithraic times. In all, a book without tension, suspense, or interest (except in the basilica).

1 comments about Cool Restaurants Milan (Cool Restaurants).

1. So dining in Milano is quite pricey eh? Very true in il centro (downtown). Milano is hub of the italian fashion world and the designers are even making their mark on the dining scene. Flip open this book and this is evident as the list includes Emporio Armani's Cafe, Just Cavalli's very trendy ristorante. Giorgio Armani's fusion ristorante Nobu. Entries that I agree with in this book are Gioia 69, Le Noir, Light & Noy. While not making the books list also D&G, Gucci, Trussardi to name a few , also have chic dining spots in Milano. Forgot to mention, this comes from me, an Italian travel specialist who continuously keeps an eye on the dining scene in all major Italian citti.

No comments about Little Black Book of Rome: The Timeless Guide to the Eternal City (Little Black Book Series).

5 comments about Florence: A Delicate Case (Writer and the City).

1. I have mixed feelings about this book. I found the chapter on homosexuality in Florence interesting, but a tiny phrase let it down. In the lesser space accorded the lesbian population, Mrs George Keppel is described as the mother of "yet another" lesbian. As if by there being four or five renowned lesbian inhabitants amongst the far more numerous gay males, they were forming a disproportionately large segment of the population! I found that quite odd.

   I also found it difficult to reconcile Leavitt's bitchiness about the lack of contact the earlier generations of ex-pats had with the locals (to the point of "like many" not knowing any Italian) with the lack of presence of any contemporary Florentines in his narrative, given that he is a part-time resident himself.

   I loved the chapter about the "mud angels", brief as it was, and would have enjoyed more about the relationship between locals and expats alike with the art of this wonderful city.

   Having said all that, I did enjoy the book overall and it is a welcome addition to the background literature of Italy which I read voraciously.




2. A slim volume on one of the world's great foreign destinations, so one would expect something elegant, insightful, witty perhaps, something evocative of the place.

   Unfortunately, I don't there is a paragraph in his book that evokes anything about what it is like to visit or live in Florence. It's certainly not worth reading as literature and it doesn't take you there from your arm chair.

   This book is just a boring rendition of sort-of famous people who lived or live in Florence, coupled with David Leavitt's intention of showing you all the famous or important people he knows. He evidently thinks people will one day be writing about his life there.

   This isn't about Florence -- it's about the author's evident obsession with effete men of letters and his desire to be one.




3. Possibly the most boring, pointless book I've ever read (and I do read a lot) - - no flow, not interesting, and the book does a dis-service to a fascinating town, despite the un-fascinating "celebrity" stories that Mr. Leavitt goes on and on and on about ...



4. boh. The italian word to express "meh, i don't know..." This book grabbed me from the first pages, as another reviewer noted, that Florence is a city where people go to commit suicide. However, I never really grasped the point of the book as a whole. Some chapters were concise and well done, full of intriguing facts.....other chapters literally put me to sleep. Of course the 'Grand Tour' and ex-pat population in Florence is a weighty piece of its history. However, I found myself not really caring about insignificant love rivalries involving unimportant 'historical' figures. At the end of the day, I really don't even know hoe to describe this book.....it's not a travelogue, not a guide book, not a memoir, nor is it an historical compilation. boh. I guess I will just give my opinion that I found it boring and incohesive. We go from suicide, to sexually promiscuous (...in a word: easy) female American students, to random anecdotes about sandwich shops, highbrow BS about Britons I couldn't care less about, etc etc...



5. The Writer and the City books are supposed to be idiosyncratic, and I greatly liked Edmund White's quirky but useful volume on Paris. However, with his "Florence, A Delicate Case," David Leavitt firmly crosses the line between idiosyncrasy and self-indulgence. His third chapter--40 pages of a book of only 176 pages, including notes--is devoted to mentioning seemingly every homosexual writer who has ever visited the city in the last 200 years. This exercise COULD have been fascinating--maybe, in a separate book--but Leavitt appears so anxious to squeeze the names and titles into this pocket-sized volume that we are given very little accompanying narrative which would bring this very interesting group to life.
   With a city that is a mass of artistic treasure, Leavitt, who has lived there--lucky fellow--for years, would have done the reader a much greater service had he applied some better organization to this book. I wanted to like it (Leavitt has a good sense of syntax and vocabulary, and he is clearly a fund of knowledge), but ended up feeling cheated of better structural choices and the advantages of his educated vision.

2 comments about Living Abroad in Italy.

1. 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.



2. 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.

No comments about The Rough Guide to Tuscany Region Map (Rough Guide City Maps).