1 comments about Italy: From the Air.

1. I have been to Italy in the past, enjoying it's beauty and splendor. The birds eye view and photography in this book makes Italy even more breath taking.Im going back next year, I will bring the book with me, to see exactly where im standing from the air.ciao.

1 comments about The Wildest Horse Race in the World (Gaudenzia, Pride of the Palio).

1. I thought I was buying the book titled "The wildest horse race in the world".
   What I received was a fold up map of downtown Miami
   
   There is no product description and no cover image.
   
   Terrible rip-off.

No comments about art/shop/eat Rome, Second Edition (art/shop/eat).

5 comments about Venetian Dreaming.

1. After a week in Venice I wanted to live there forever. Picking up this book to read on the plane home, I hoped to see the city through other eyes and put my own dream into perspective. It starts well: the reader empathises with the Venetian disease Weinbereg catches. Half way through this book turns into a nasty diatribe against some Venetians and many expatriates. The author seems to think her closing section on a car-crash in Italy and its aftermath will make up for her bile. It doesn't, it won't.
   
   If I ever do live in Venice I fervently hope never to encounter this snobbish, garrulous and self-centered New Yorker. The book is not only a waste of money, but an offense to Venice and to readers. How on earth did this get published?



2. If you are looking for a Venetian travel view thru rose-colored glasses, skip this book. If you are interested in what it would be like to live or spend significant time there, it is worthwhile to read. While I would not want to spend time with the author, and I suspect many who did have lived to regret it, she does give an inside view of Venice, Ca'Donà (the only Venetian Palace still occupied by the family that built it), and the Venetian expat community. Her description of the real-life family of Ca'Donà and the challenges they face with their inherited Venetian Palace is fascinating. You will not get this kind of info from your travel guide.



3. I love to read about Venice and could not resist the looks of this book. Alas, I erred. Aside from some ludicrous dangling modifiers, the author does not write poorly. What she cannot do is contain her rage. Nor can she provide much perspective.
   
   The book attempts to look at some time spent in Venice, trying to live as a Venetian--although it's crystal clear that the author has plenty of money and connections. But it gets derailed in many places---do we really need a lengthy description of how difficult it was to hook up her internet? She seemingly spent more time discussing telephone jacks and electrical wires than she spends on the whole sestiere of Castello!
   
   The book is poorly edited and unrevised. After a promising first 90 pages or so, the author gets obsessive about things that teach us not much about Venice and much about her---her cold, her landlords (I kept thinking how much I pitied them for having such a demanding tenant!), the Friends of Peggy Guggenheim she knew. She would rant about the impossiblity of her spacious apartment in a Palazzo and then go on about the large dinner parties she had. She discussed her Italian lessons as a lot of work characterized by too much heat, but didn't really go into the experience of learning a new language or how the language is constructed.
   
   Finally, she is quite a snob. This woman from the Bronx makes sure that we know her prep school connections, her Guggenheim family connections, that she maintains quarters in Manhatten as well as London, and that she felt robbed when she had to see open-air opera before La Fenice was reconstructed.
   
   The book fails as history, as sociology, as anthropology, as guide, as vade mecum, as anything but a screed that rants, raves, and turns icy cold as well as ferociously bitter. Whoever edited this was not paying attention.
   
   I hope that Ms Weideger works out her anger issues and works on her revision talents before she publishes another book.
   
   I would recommend that you read Norwich, Morris, McCarthy, Ruskin, Henry James, or William Dean Howells before you read this book.



4. What a terrible waste of time this was. To read this woman's bitter account of Venice and Italy was so incredibly distateful. The author was so selfish and elitist that there is no wonder that Venice sees American "tourists" as rude entitled buffoons - especially if this is how we present ourselves. I thought that this was a sad piece of writing and a terrible waste of paper.



5. This book, despite its flaws, is worth reading for its evocative descriptions of contemporary Venice. Indeed, Paula Weideger is capable of writing lovely passages filled with grace, intelligence and humor.
   
   However, she never met a comma (or an em-dash, for that matter) that she didn't leave out! Great, long stretches of prose gallop in a headlong rush without gasping for air (or even a sip of Prosecco). How did this book get published without a good copy editor? It could have been so much stronger.
   
   Plus, the book suffers from a compulsive need to gossip, about people's clothes, physiques, manners, etc., that doesn't add to the narrative. The author may have thought this was descriptive information, but it ends up sounding mean-spirited and judgmental. In the long run it's simply tedious for a reader to have to wade through.

No comments about Charming Small Hotel Guides: Tuscany & Umbria : Including Florence and Siena (Charming Small Hotel Guides).

No comments about A Venetian Bestiary.

2 comments about Insight Pocket Map Rome (Insight Pocket Map).

1. I found this folding map to be too small, and very inconvenient to use. Others were much better.



2. After a week of struggling with this map I finally gave up and bought a new one. The format is great. It's very easy to keep in your pocket and unfold discreetly. Unfortunately, because of that the map doesn't have much detail, and doesn't list the names of many smaller streets. If you want to get off the beaten path at all this map is useless. There are much better options.

5 comments about Bologna & Emilia-Romagna, 3rd (Country & Regional Guides - Cadogan).

1. Cadogan Bologna & Emilia-Romagna is the first guide to cover this corner of Italy, which provides excellent art, scenery, and foods. Chapters profile the 'best' of the region with blends of historical background, cultural insights, and destination-oriented tips on what to see, where to stay and eat, and how to best enjoy the region. A recommended pick for any journeying to this corner of the world.



2. There is nothing else available that I can find specifically on this wonderful part of Italy. And aren't we lucky it's from the Cadogan's stable!

   Intelligent writing for discerning travellers; Cadogan Guides are for the independent traveller who really wants to get to grips with a place. They also provide all the essential information on how to get from here to there, hotel and restaurant suggestions. Perhaps a bit more heavily concentrating on the upper price range than what I desire, but still useful.




3. I lived in Bologna for five years and this is an informative book.
   
   I wish the print were larger. One needs a magnifying glass or strong reading glasses to read in comfort.



4. It's a sad reflection on just how overlooked this wonderful and important part of Italy is these days that so few guides cover it at all; in fact, this may be the first one in years that covers Emilia-Romagna comprehensively. Luckily, this effort by seasoned Europe travel writers Facaros and Pauls does the region a great turn.
   
   The book is a convenient size -- not too large, not too small -- and is well organized. There is a fairly comprehensive, if a bit tendentious, section on the history of the region, a very good section on the arts (including a neat alphabetized list of the painters, sculptors, and architects whose works a traveler in the region is likely to encounter), another on food, followed by the mandatory practical section. Finally, there is a detailed description of the region, broken up logically into six areas: Piacenza, Parma, Reggio & Modena, Bologna, Ferrara & Ravenna, and the Romagna/Adreatic portion of the region.
   
   The writers know what to focus on: in addition to the separate section on food, part of the section on history is devoted to Emilia-Romagna's culinary achievements, the region's strong suit. The level of the authors' erudition and up-to-date intelligence is evident throughout the guide. The descriptions of the sights are knowledgeable and engaging but also to-the-point, leaving little to be desired. There is, unfortunately, very little photography inside the guide, save for a "photo essay" in the beginning, but this contributes to the book's portable size and weight. Some of the local maps, too, could be better, but few guidebooks have good maps.
   
   Most impressive, perhaps, have been the book's captions on restaurants in the towns where I stayed. It is clear that the authors actually ate at many of the establishments. Perhpas it's hard to go wrong in Emilia-Romagna, but all the eateries they recommended were well worth a visit.
   
   I have now used the book on two trips to the region, both of which times it was my primary resource. It is now well-worn, and I intend to use it again. What better compliment can you give a travel guide?



5. Glad to see Cadogan is paying attention to this terrific part of Italy. We spent two weeks in Bologna and visited Ravenna, Ferrara, Florence, and Siena (latter two not covered in this book) during that time. Cadogan specializes in giving a complete and very valuable historical and cultural picture of the regions covered in their books. The background is very informative; the only thing we could have desired is more logistical information, buses, trains, opening hours, etc. This information changes frequently but would nevertheless be extremely valuable--perhaps a once-a-year E-Newsletter for people who buy the book? We wasted a lot of time trying to juggle opening hours with public transport schedules.

No comments about Michelin Map No. 561 Northwest Italy Lombardia, Piemonte, Valle d'Aosta, Liguria scale 1:400,000.

5 comments about Within Tuscany: Reflections on a Time and Place (Penguin Travel).

1. Matthew Spender's Within Tuscany was recommended to me by a friend whose family is two generations removed from the Tuscan village of Fiesole. Spender, who is better known as a sculptor whose work was featured in the film Stealing Beauty, writes not to make traveling in Tuscany simpler. In fact, he says, "I loath talking of food, restaurants, hotels, timetables, itineraries." Instead, he seems to be seeking to explain the mysteries and historical complexities of Tuscany to himself and anyone who cares to listen in. Included are ruminations on Michelangelo's struggles to acquire suitable marble, an annual horse race that is at least much cultural ritual as it is a competition, and visits to various churches and offices to marvel at the antiquities which abound in Italy, frequently in the most unlikely places. Spender also captures the Tuscan people in prose which shows respect for them, rather than in the look-how-quaint-they-are caricatures so common in popular travel narratives. As Spender writes to comprehend Tuscany, we are also led to understand, appreciate, and feel the region's daily rhythms as well as its place in Italy's past



2. A wonderful read, especially while traveling in Tuscany. Far greater insights to local customs than several best sellers



3. Influenced by the title alone, I bought this book a few months before travelling through Chianti a couple of years ago. Although it is in no way an ordinary guidebook (i.e., hotel and restaurant recommendations, who slept where and when), it offered more insights into the people and culture of the region than anything else I have ever read. In fact, a highlight of our trip was finding the little church near Radda that contains Spender's crucifix. Also, his speculation on Shelley's death was provocative, to say the least.



4. I found "Within Tuscany" in the travel section of a bookstore and bought it because it was about Italy. I actually ended up enjoying it mostly because of the quirky life of the author-artist -- or perhaps more correctly, the reflections of an artist about his past several years of living in a particularly attractive place.

   He apparently has or had female companions along the way. There's a wife, maybe, and some daughters (pictured in the book in a mid-seventies photo wearing clothes their mother made), and a friend Vittoria with whom he spends a great deal of time. He describes his life style as "alternative" which I take to mean not exactly traditional Italian.

   Mathew Spender is English, and like fellow travlers in Tuscany, he relates amusing cultural incidents. He describes several notable friendships with individuals from various classes and backgrounds, one of whom dies two-thirds through the book. I believe he is a sculpter. His descriptions are physical and three dimensional, but he also plays his clarinet in the village band. Throughout the book he recalls his visits to a few notable places in Tuscany and shares his experiences at those places, but you would have to know the places to follow his writing completely.

   Spender's writing reminds me a bit of John Mortimer's in "Summer Lease" as it's both sweet and sad. His observations about folks in various stages of life's sorrows and joys are touching. Spender also has an artists comprehension, absorbing and conveying what is going on around him.




5. With all the wonderful reviews this book received, I couldn't wait to read Matthew Spender's "Within Tuscany." I am very disappointed. The narrative lacks focus and cohesion - it is not well-written. The reader does not get a true feeling for Tuscany. The author is stuck on relating tales of the sad and macabre. I had hoped that as a sculptor and artist, the author would be able to put into words all the beautiful, singular qualities of Tuscany and the Italian people. Sadly, this is not the case. I guess the best way to sum up this book is to say it lacks joy and warmth, which to me are essential elements of Tuscany. Spare yourself the agony (and the pricey shipping and handling charges).