pfeldman

I've got a kind of Italy book fetish, so this thread is great. These are my favorites:

Italian Hours (Henry James)
Italian Days (Barbara Grizzuti Harrison)
Twilight in Italy, Sea & Sardinia and Etruscan Places (D.H. Lawrence)
A Traveler in Italy (H.V. Morton)
The City of Florence (R.W.B. Lewis)
Venice Observed, Stones of Florence (Mary McCarthy)

Reading back over this, I see it seems I mostly read old stuff, but it's not true. I read the new stuff too, but find much of it very overrated. It seems every week somebody else writes a book about Italy. Not all of them are very good.

Dog_Mother

Traveljack,
Oh, please, can't we find a way for you to provide the text plus pictures version? I love the way you have combined the two.
Dog Mother

traveller212

ttt

Looking for a work of fiction featuring Italy (preferably Rome) that is a relatively light read.

sera

I highly recommend "See Naples," by Douglas Allanbrook, a memoir of his experience in Italy during the war and after -- lyrical and haunting.

capo

I like Paul Hofmann's books, especially "The Seasons of Rome: A Journal."

For those with an interest in architecture, another wonderful book about Rome is "An Architect's Rome" by John M. McGuire. Jr. McGuire writes exceptionally well and also has many delightful pen-and-ink drawings. It was in his book that I read about Rome's "street of dueling churches", with one small church done by Bernini, and the other by his rival, Borromini. (Can't recall the street name offhand, but it's the one which runs parallel to the Quirinale Palace.)

I recently finished "Venetian Dreaming" by Paul Weideger. It was discussed here before and a lot of people seemed to dislike it, but I really enjoyed it.

mclaurie

Traveler 212,

Here's a url that lists a wide variety of books in Italy, most already mentioned on this thread.

http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/book/memoirs.htm

Interestingly, in doing a web search there are TONS of novels that take place in ancient Rome, but not many in modern Rome.

My favorite "light" reads have been based in Venice (where I was going) and already mentioned on this thread

"Mrs. Garnet's Angel", the Sklepowich mysteries and the Dibdin mysteries.

eliztrav

The Donna Leon mystery novel series featuring her detective, Guido Brunetti, and set in Venice (you can find them used on amazon.com)

Extra Virgin by Annie Hawes

Dances with Luigi (A real favorite, about an American taking a period of time off to discover some information about his Italian grandparents - very sensitively written. I preferred it to Pasquale's Nose, hands down!)

Anything by Iris Origo

Vanilla Beans & Brodo by Isabella Dusi (nonfiction memoir, set in Montalcino)

ellenem

I love mysteries and usually read ones set in the place I'm visiting.
The Donna Leon series set in modern Venice previously mentioned is a favorite.
Another mystery series, Michael Dibdin's Aurelio Zen series, is set all over modern Italy--"Cabal" is set in Rome.
Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons" is a fast-paced suspense novel set in modern Rome--physics, Vatican politics, art history all rolled up in a fantastical adventure.
Steven Saylor writes a great historical mystery series set in ancient Rome.

kvick

Can anyone jog my memory?
I'm trying to recall the title and author of a book I read in 2000. It was set in Florence shortly after the 1966 flood.
It followed a young American woman's love affair with an older man, and involved the finding of a book of twelve or thirteen pornographic drawings and poems in a convent.
Does anyone remember this one?

omnius

Lots of stuff on Tuscany (we know that's romantic), Rome, Sicily, but what about Naples / Amalfi Coast / Capri?

LindaS

Hi Kvick:
I think you are referring to "The Sixteen Pleasures: A Novel", by Robert Hellenga. Haven't read it yet but its on my wish list!

Madison

Ditto...Marlena de Blasci's book "1000 Days in Venice. Very interesting read.

lekker

I cannot remember the author of "La Cucina" - fiction, but beautifully written - Sicily based, some Mafia involvement, and an ode to cooking. Really worth the reading!

Grasshopper

La Cucina, as an ode to cooking? I rather thought of it as an ode to something else!

It's by Lily Prior. A really fun book.

Did anyone mention Dances with Luigi?

kvick

LindaS, thank you very much. Not being able to remember "The Sixteen Pleasures" would have gnawed at me for weeks.

MichelleY

I took La Cucina on vacation to Lake Tahoe several years ago. Definitly an Ode to what you can do on the kitchen table!!! My mother was along with us on vacation. I was embarrassed to even read the book with her in the room!! I was hoping she wouldn't pick it up.

artlover

Two of my favorite books set in Italy are Serenissima by Erica Jong and Disturbance of the Inner Ear by Joyce Hackett. The Hackett book is current and the Jong book was written several years ago and I believe is out of print, but if you can get a used copy or one from the library, it's well worth it.

cigalechanta

If you love mysteries: "The Name of the Rose."

busterla

Don't forget Edith Wharton's "Italian Villas and their Gardens."

The characters in many Henry James novels tend to spend significant time hanging around in Italy (which represents love and freedom usually) before they return to the more repressive climes of England or the U.S.

And don't forget E.M. Forster's "A Room with a View".

But, while "A Death in Venice" is certainly set in Italy, it is a very sad book and possibly not what you want to peruse while on vacation.

I know you're looking for literature, but you may also think about taking some time before you go and watching Katherine Hepburn in "Summertime" or taking in Fellini's "Roma."

Another thought -- why not go back to the real Italian masterpieces? Machiavelli's 'The Prince', Dante, Catullus, Virgil or Caesar's "The Civil Wars"?

Dog_Mother

Here's a compilation of the above:
A Room with a View, by E.M. Forster
A Thousand Days in Venice, by Marlena De Blasi –
Francis of Asissi: A Revolutionary Life.
A Traveler in Italy (H.V. Morton)
An Architect’s Rome by John M. McGuire, Jr.
An Italian Affair by Laura Fraser
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
Artemisia by Alexandra Lapierre set in Rome.
Aurelio Zen mystery series by Michael Dibdin
Books by Iris Origo
Dances with Luigi
Death in Venice, by Thomas Mann.
Disturbance of the Inner Ear by Joyce Hackett.
Etruscan Places (D.H. Lawrence)
Extra Virgin by Annie Hawes.
Galileo's Daughter, by Dava Sobel
Italian Days (Barbara Grizzuti Harrison)
Twilight in Italy, D.H. Lawrence
Italian Education, Tim Parks
Italian Hours (Henry James)
Italian Neighbors, Tim Parks
Italian Villas and their Gardens, by Edith Wharton
La Cucina by Lily Prior
Little World of Don Camillo by Guareschi
Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling, by Ross King
Mrs. Garnet's Angel
Mysteries set in Venice by Edward Sklepowich,
Pasquale's Nose
Postcards from Europe by Rick Steves
Sea & Sardinia, D.H. Lawrence
See Naples, by Douglas Allanbrook
Serenissima by Erica Jong.
Steven Saylor writes a great historical mystery series set in ancient Rome.
Stones of Florence (Mary McCarthy)
The Agony and the Ecstasy, Irving Stone
The City of Florence (R.W.B. Lewis)
The Collected Traveler: Central Italy Tuscany and Umbria.
The Decameron
The Donna Leon mystery novel series featuring her detective, Guido Brunetti, and set in Venice.
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani.
The Geometry of Love,by Margaret Visser
The Italians by Luigi Barzini
The Leopard, by Giuseppe di Lampedusa
The Merchant of Prato
The Miracle of Santo Fico
The Name of the Rose.
The Roman Way by Edith Hamilton
The Seasons of Rome: A Journal. By Paul Hofmann
The Sixteen Pleasures: A Novel, by Robert Hellenga.
Under the Tuscan Sun
Vanilla Beans & Brodo by Isabella Dusi
Vaporetto 13
Venetian Dreaming by Paul Weideger
Venice Observed, Mary McCarthy