5 comments about Pasquale's Nose: Idle Days in an Italian Town.

1. Read the rave reviews and then read the book yourself. Pasquale's Nose is a big disappointment and not tied together well, chapter to chapter. Michael Rips flits from subject to subject, character to character without developing anything enough to make you care and there is a rich seam of stories about the residents and history of Sutri to be told here. The book is unsatisfying and unfinished and attempts to be philisophical at the end with a discussion of Adam and Eve and the question "Where Are You?". Even so, I am glad I read the book because it opened up the village of Sutri, Italy -- and surrounding area -- for my further investigation. It whetted my appetite. I'll give Paquale's Nose that.



2. Having read and greatly enjoyed this story, I later found myself at Sutri enroute from Rome to Tuscany. My wife and I stopped to stretch our legs and see the town. It is as described, and so are the people. When Michael's name and/or book were mentioned, most people rolled their eyes (lovingly). This book made a visit to Sutri infinitely more enjoyable, and made it a special place among places on the Via Cassia (SS2).



3. "The kind of book you want to read out loud to someone.... even the stranger sitting next to you!" Uriel Dana
   
   History, eccentric characters & dry wit synergistically arrange themselves into laugh-out-loud combinations in Pasquale's Nose.
   In each chapter Rips demonstrates brilliant observational and storytelling abilities.
   
   By the end of the book, all of these surreal characters began to develop a larger, over-soul quality. They reminded me of cultures like the Aboriginal Australians that perceive realities on more than one level. The stories and the history of this place are not only extremely interesting and funny, but they left me pondering the possibilities for hours.



4. Michael Rips described himself as a lost soul who has no useful skills and can find no direction in life. This is the author, lawyer and writer Michael Rips, speaking about a character, "Michael Rips," who bears no more relation to the author than the character "Woody Allen" bears to the famous film actor and director.
   
   I was pleased to learn in another review that the town of Sutri actually exists. Although that other reviewer states that this town is perfectly described by Rips, I had my doubts whether there was such a town, or, if there were, it bore about the same relation to Rips "Sutri" that Rips the author bore to his character. In any event, it would not matter, because despite the local color it lends to the book, the place is not in itself of great importance. Quirky people can be found making a life together everywhere, and that is what this book is ultimately about.
   
   The book consists of short chapters composed of shorter vignettes. The first chapter establishes the character "Rips", the setting "Sutri", and the situation that brings Rips and his wife to that town: the author's inability to do anything useful. The character then hangs out in cafes and tries without much success to engage the locals and understand them.
   
   Unlike the authors of Italian Neighbors (Tim Parks) and A Small Place in Italy (Eric Newby), Rips never succeeds in penetrating the town, and his character descriptions of the locals are mere anecdotes describing their incredible eccentircities. As one friend expresses it, the Sutrini are "mad, mad".
   
   But about halfway through the book, this premise sufficiently established, Rips stretches out. The eccentricities are replaced by genuine paradoxes, and each anecdote becomes something of a zen koan. Reflections on these may be highly amusing, but will not yeild to rational understanding.
   
   By the end of the book a convincing world of paradox, a zen world, is established. In creating their town, the Sutrini have relied on collective myths (many not merely mythic but demonstrably false) which over time have affected the being of each of the residents as they strive to fit in and make sense of their lives. In this way the town is more than the sum of its parts, and each resident is less an "individual" than a living "particle" in this larger whole. It is impossible to live in this world as a rational autonomous "individual" or to understand the Sutrini one by one as individuals.
   
   Thus the portrait of the town comes to its own sort of wholeness and completeness, not merely despite the absence of penetrating character studies of the locals, but because of it.



5. I could not get interested in this at all. Maybe 4-5 pages held my interest. Each chapter deals with a different character in the village or an event that happened - not a lot of continuity - the characters weren't engrossing enough to make me want to know more about them. I love books about Italy and Tuscany in particular but this would be pretty low on my list.

No comments about Frommer's Tuscany and Umbria With Your Family: From Renaissance Architecture to Stunning Scenery (Frommers With Your Family Series).

No comments about Naples and Pompeii Pocket Map and Guide (Eyewitness Travel - Pocket Maps & Guides).

3 comments about The Antique & Flea Markets of Italy.

1. I have used other books of this kind in the past for other countries. This one seem to lack the fundamentals for this type of informational book. #1 You must write this book for someone who is not familiar with the local surroundings or the languages. #2 In the years that will be called the new millinneum people want to just blow in and blow out. When I travel I have a limited time and budget to see the flea markets available. In this book there is alot of leg work the author could have provided but for some reason did not.#3 If you speak fluent italian you can call all the phone #'s provided if they are still current. I on the other hand will have to hire a translator. If the author would provide maps, locations to trains, location to major city monuments, and make things easy for the reader to find, the hidden treasures she has found would be available to her reader, which should be her goal. When I travel many times I have up to 5 days in which to find this type of treasure. With this book it would be difficult to accomplish what I would like, but with more effort from the author this book could be a complete guide for any traveler.



2. This slim volume lists all types of markets by the day of the week or month and location. There's also usually a contact number for more information. If you're going to be in Italy during the first weekend of the month, or the second Tuesday, say, you can check the listings for that time period. There are a few blank pages at the end of the book to write your own personal market notes!

   No doubt people will need local maps and/or guidebooks to help locate the markets; this book will work best in addition to other guidebooks - not as a replacement.




3. I got this cute little book as a gift for my mother who loves antiques and is traveling to Italy this summer.
   Unfortunately, the information is organized by day of the week - and not by location. There is no index that cross-references by location (i.e. city, region). So you end up reading through every single entry for "2nd Sunday of the Month" just to find a market that's taking place that day in Firenze.

No comments about Florence: A City with a View.

No comments about Marco Polo.

3 comments about Rome and a Villa.

1. If you need to escape from the drudgery of your everyday life for awhile than this is the book for you.

   Clark's masterpiece is as good as a month in the country. And not just any country either. All of Italy is opened to you by the mind and imagination of Eleanor Clark. She covers the territory from the haunted villa of Hadrian to the dangerous hills of Sicily and the cool depths of Saint Peter's Cathedral. You will meet with the ghost of the Emperor himself, a modern gangster cum matinee idol and the pilgrims of a Papal Jubilee.

   Clark's prose is a whirlwind that leaves you breathless. She throws off sparks in all directions like a Catherine's Wheel. You won't "get" all of this book on the first go round but it is well worth a second and a third reading.




2. this book is deceiving...i admit, some will find it interesting, but clark jumps around with no transitions. it is more of a journal, or a collection of essays. she does describe in detail a number of things in rome, yet if you are looking for a novel or a piece of literature which is cohesive this is not the book for you.



3. "You walk close to your dreams"--that's the first sentence of Eleanor Clark's chapter on the fountains of Rome. Her book is lyrical but informative, and for some readers, perhaps too heavy with information, but I have found it indispensible both while in Rome and later back in the US thinking about where I had been. Orignally published as separate articles in The New Yorker magazine, each chapter focuses on a particular subject. One of my favorites is the section on Protestant Cemetery (actually the cemetery of the non-Catholics), where Keats, Shelley, Gramsci and many other non-Catholic writers, politicians, diplomats, and artists are buried. This is not a typical guidebook, however, and anyone who buys it in order to get maps, pictures, and restaurant tips will be disappointed. Nevertheless, it is an excellent guide to the city--it is thoughtful, it is full of strong opinions, and it is sometimes very funny, too. Eleanor Clark was married to the writer Robert Penn Warren, whose career overshadowed hers. Those who know his work but do not know the work of Clark may be surprised to find out just how good she is.

No comments about The Scent of India.

3 comments about MapEasy's Guidemap to Italy.

1. we went to europe with it and it was very helpful. it had all the special sights to see and also told you where the best ice-cream was.



2. I've used Mapeasy in four countries and countless U.S. cities and they're by far my favorite. They're easy to read and use and provide the places most tourists want to see. Well worth the money.



3. This is a great resource guide for locations in Italy where my tour group will visit. Every trip participant is getting a map.
   
   Marie Yolande The Great Italian Escape at www.marieyolande.com

5 comments about The Companion Guide to Florence (Companion Guides).

1. A lot of things began in Florence. The way businesses keep their books, the way sovereign states relate to each other, the way people use art to tell stories and create beauty. These things and many more elements of modern society have their origins in this smallish Tuscan city. These impulses were born in the middle of the last millenium - during a century or so when Florence blossomed as an intellectual and artistic supernova of the Italian Renaissance. Today, Florence remains densely packed with the memories of that time. Eve Borsook's "THE COMPANION GUIDE TO FLORENCE" is the key to the city. In addition to all the names, dates, places of history, Borsook skillfully weaves in meaning and context so that you may not only know who painted what fresco in which church - but why it remains meaningful 500 years down the road. You can go to Florence to shop for many beautiful Italian creations. But with this book, you can gain a clear appreciation about why the names and images from this amazing city's glorious past still resonate in our lives today.



2. A lot of things began in Renaissance Florence: the way businesses keep their books, the way sovereign states relate to each other, the way people use art to tell stories and create beauty. These things and many more elements of modern society have their origins in this smallish Tuscan city. These impulses were born in the middle of the last millenium - during the century or so when Florence blossomed as the intellectual and artistic supernova of the Italian Renaissance. Today, Florence remains densely packed with the memories of that time. Eve Borsook's "THE COMPANION GUIDE TO FLORENCE" is the key to the city. In addition to all the names, dates, places of history, Borsook skillfully weaves in meaning and context so that you may know who painted what fresco in which church - but why it remains meaningful 500 years down the road. You can go to Florence to shop for many beautiful Italian creations. But with this book, you can gain a clear appreciation about why the names,images and achievements from this amazing city's glorious past still resonate in our lives today.



3. A lot of things began in Renaissance Florence: the way businesses keep their books, the way sovereign states relate to each other, the way people use art to tell stories and create beauty. These things and many more elements of modern society have their origins in this smallish Tuscan city. These impulses were born in the middle of the last millenium - during the century or so when Florence blossomed as the intellectual and artistic supernova of the Italian Renaissance. Today, Florence remains densely packed with the memories of that time. Eve Borsook's "THE COMPANION GUIDE TO FLORENCE" is the key to the city. In addition to all the names, dates, places of history, Borsook skillfully weaves in meaning and context so that you may know who painted what fresco in which church - but why it remains meaningful 500 years down the road. You can go to Florence to shop for many beautiful Italian creations. But with this book, you can gain a clear appreciation about why the names,images and achievements from this amazing city's glorious past still resonate in our lives today.



4. I lived in Florence as a full time tourist for a year in the early eighties. I could divide my year into before and after finding this book; it's that good. The maps reveal every nook and cranny, helping you to see the hidden wonders right before your eyes in this city that is so immensely rich in wonders. The recommended walking tours make your time more meaningful, as the buildings and artwork become not only isolated splendors, but also pieces of the history of this remarkable city. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the latest edition so that I can plan a return visit for next year. Buy yours early and plan your time, and you will have a visit beyond what even the best tour guide could ever offer. Buon viaggio!



5. Borsook offers a comprehensive overview of the history and culture of the cradle of the Renaissance, and a guide to the many nooks and crannys of old Florence. This book details all the important venues open to the public, plus many that are not. It gives invaluable insight into the context of the city, and site maps to all the important works of art and science.
   
   I read this book before a recent trip to Florence, using it to plan the visit. I left it home, thinking it too heavy to tote along. I won't make that mistake when we return. Forget the guidebooks; Borsook is all you need to enjoy Florence.