Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy Author: Visit Amazon's Frances Mayes Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0767900383 | Format: PDF
Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy Description
Amazon.com Review
In this memoir of her buying, renovating, and living in an abandoned villa in Tuscany, Frances Mayes reveals the sensual pleasure she found living in rural Italy, and the generous spirit she brought with her. She revels in the sunlight and the color, the long view of her valley, the warm homey architecture, the languor of the slow paced days, the vigor of working her garden, and the intimacy of her dealings with the locals. Cooking, gardening, tiling and painting are never chores, but skills to be learned, arts to be practiced, and above all to be enjoyed. At the same time Mayes brings a literary and intellectual mind to bear on the experience, adding depth to this account of her enticing rural idyll.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Mayes's favorite guide to Northern Italy allots seven pages to the town of Cortona, where she owns a house. But here she finds considerably more to say about it than that, all of it so enchanting that an armchair traveler will find it hard to resist jumping out of the chair and following in her footsteps. The recently divorced author is euphoric about the old house in the Tuscan hills that she and her new lover renovated and now live in during summer vacations and on holidays. A poet, food-and-travel writer, Italophile and chair of the creative writing department at San Francisco State University, Mayes is a fine wordsmith and an exemplary companion whose delight in a brick floor she has just waxed is as contagious as her pleasure in the landscape, architecture and life of the village. Not the least of the charms of her book are the recipes for delicious meals she has made. Above all, her observations about being at home in two very different cultures are sharp and wise.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
See all Editorial Reviews
- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Broadway Books; Reprint edition (September 2, 1997)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0767900383
- ISBN-13: 978-0767900386
- Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
I was thoroughly dissatisfied with this novel. Due to extreme stubbornness, I forced myself to finish after several grueling months. After seeing the movie, which I adored, I starting searching for this book expecting it to be even better. The book, however, is not even slightly similar to the movie. The movie chronicled the main characters search for romance. The book, however, is a true story focusing on the restoration of an old Tuscan house Frances Mayes, the author, and her husband purchased. She describes ever step of remodeling her house in painful detail; there was an entire twenty page chapter focusing on the removal and replacement of old linoleum. Do not worry, we are also told in detail about the disposal of the aforesaid linoleum! Several other lengthy chapters were dedicated to Mayes and her husband having a custom made wrought iron gate constructed and installed. Other chapters are dedicated to the reconstruction of a stone wall around their house and, of course, we are told in depth about the various building requirements, tools, workmen, and disposal of any unusable stone. Also, the reader is allowed the thrill of excruciatingly long chapters dedicated to the remodeling of bathrooms and kitchens which, as we all know, is a subject of endless fascination. As if this is not exciting enough, the reader receives lengthy dissertations on the author's shopping trips chronicling everything she bought from bed sheets to silverware. Later, as the excitement builds to a climax, the reader is allowed a exhaustive chapter on her cleaning the floors and windows as well as painting the walls. Often, she would include entire chapters of recipes, which could have been enjoyable if it were included as a bonus at the conclusion of the novel and not an actual part of the story.
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