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bellawoo's review against another edition
1.0
It was a different economic and political climate in 1997. So perhaps it wasn't a good idea to read, in 2017, a book about a white, cis-hetero happily married female, who teaches creative writing at San Francisco State University and owns a condo by Alamo Square in SF, buy a summer home in Tuscany and leisurely restore it.
Oh yeah, if you're here because you liked the movie because she finds a second life in Italy after her expecting lesbian friend gifts her with a Gay and Away coach tour of Italy because her husband surprises her with a divorce and she's burnt out from the NYC grind.... yeah, that was about a different woman entirely.
Oh yeah, if you're here because you liked the movie because she finds a second life in Italy after her expecting lesbian friend gifts her with a Gay and Away coach tour of Italy because her husband surprises her with a divorce and she's burnt out from the NYC grind.... yeah, that was about a different woman entirely.
danadoesbooks's review against another edition
I liked the concept of this book but realized if I was skim-reading it just to read it, it probably wasn't for me.
kimberussell's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like this book. I wanted this to be a delightful summer book that I could read on my little apartment balcony every summer. It wasn't to be.
Perhaps the book isn't holding up well over time.
I'm practically 40 years old, entering ye olde middle age, and I can't relate with her on any level, especially when she muses about the cook and gardener employed by her family as a child. And with so many friends and loved ones struggling to make ends meet, it's weird to read about a state college professor with all of that savings available to buy a house overseas, pay to have it restored, pay to have the lands maintained while they're gone and pay to fly there and back a few times a year. Wow, 1990s...I didn't know we had it so good.
And with the rise of HGTV and DIY blogs, I'm used to reading about people doing home improvements on their own. But Frances & Ed had many laborers helping them out and a lot of the heavy work seemed to be done while they were back in San Francisco.
My edition had a last chapter that detailed what happened in Cortona since this book was published and it does seem that Frances eventually assimilated with her neighbors much better than she did at first.
Perhaps the book isn't holding up well over time.
I'm practically 40 years old, entering ye olde middle age, and I can't relate with her on any level, especially when she muses about the cook and gardener employed by her family as a child. And with so many friends and loved ones struggling to make ends meet, it's weird to read about a state college professor with all of that savings available to buy a house overseas, pay to have it restored, pay to have the lands maintained while they're gone and pay to fly there and back a few times a year. Wow, 1990s...I didn't know we had it so good.
And with the rise of HGTV and DIY blogs, I'm used to reading about people doing home improvements on their own. But Frances & Ed had many laborers helping them out and a lot of the heavy work seemed to be done while they were back in San Francisco.
My edition had a last chapter that detailed what happened in Cortona since this book was published and it does seem that Frances eventually assimilated with her neighbors much better than she did at first.
buud_w0rm's review against another edition
Soft dnf, a bit slow rn. Beautifully written but now may not be the time to read it.
mindthebook's review against another edition
3.0
Amerikansk akademiker klagar på hantverkare. Amerikansk akademiker tillbringar tid i Italien och berättar om sina recept. Har alltid tyckt att filmen är så härlig, men nu funkade det inte, förmodligen för att jag inte gillade inläsningsrösten i Audible-versionen.
Recepten läses inte upp i sin helhet, har jag för mig, utan kanske bara rubrikerna. Packade /upp/ om/ resväskan och småpysslade hemma under tiden och lyssnade nog lite selektivt. Tyckte jag hörde Viareggio nämnas mot slutet, men nu hittar jag inte stället i boken. I alla fall är jag glad för min egen senaste séjour i Toscana, tillsammans med en kär person jag lärde känna på 90-talet, ungefär när den här utgåvan var färsk.
Har egentligen ingen passion för mat alls, men jag har precis delat med mig av bl.a. en fantastisk burrata på instagram @mindthebook
Recepten läses inte upp i sin helhet, har jag för mig, utan kanske bara rubrikerna. Packade /upp/ om/ resväskan och småpysslade hemma under tiden och lyssnade nog lite selektivt. Tyckte jag hörde Viareggio nämnas mot slutet, men nu hittar jag inte stället i boken. I alla fall är jag glad för min egen senaste séjour i Toscana, tillsammans med en kär person jag lärde känna på 90-talet, ungefär när den här utgåvan var färsk.
Har egentligen ingen passion för mat alls, men jag har precis delat med mig av bl.a. en fantastisk burrata på instagram @mindthebook
brighroosh's review against another edition
3.0
My bookclub thought this would be a nice light, easy read for our December book, what with parties and commitments. Ha! For some reason it became a dense read with all of us struggling to finish it!
Frances Mayes writes well for the most part, although I was confused about the layout of her Tuscan home. This house figures prominently in the book. (And I say book, not story). This is her memoir of restoring an old villa near the town of Cortona, so I read about tiles, stone walls, the workmen, the difficulty finding good workers, etc. I also learned about the many roses and olive trees she planted.
I kept waiting for a story to appear, some drama between her and her husband, or a bit of intrigue. It wasn't until the end that I realized I had been reading prose. And after reading her Afterward and finding out that she was a poet it made much more sense. I just wish I had known that before I read the book.
The parts of the book I liked were her forays to Etruscan ruins, and her immersion in that culture from antiquity. I liked that she interspersed Italian phrases with the English translations into the text.
She includes some good recipes - seems like she really enjoyed cooking and entertaining visiting guests.
I think Mayes viewed the book as an experiment - to see if she could write a book just about her experiences without a plot. She obviously got published and has many admirers, so her experiment worked. But I think she could have added a bit more human emotion to the content along with her spiritual musings.
Frances Mayes writes well for the most part, although I was confused about the layout of her Tuscan home. This house figures prominently in the book. (And I say book, not story). This is her memoir of restoring an old villa near the town of Cortona, so I read about tiles, stone walls, the workmen, the difficulty finding good workers, etc. I also learned about the many roses and olive trees she planted.
I kept waiting for a story to appear, some drama between her and her husband, or a bit of intrigue. It wasn't until the end that I realized I had been reading prose. And after reading her Afterward and finding out that she was a poet it made much more sense. I just wish I had known that before I read the book.
The parts of the book I liked were her forays to Etruscan ruins, and her immersion in that culture from antiquity. I liked that she interspersed Italian phrases with the English translations into the text.
She includes some good recipes - seems like she really enjoyed cooking and entertaining visiting guests.
I think Mayes viewed the book as an experiment - to see if she could write a book just about her experiences without a plot. She obviously got published and has many admirers, so her experiment worked. But I think she could have added a bit more human emotion to the content along with her spiritual musings.
ydekoter's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
5.0
greta123's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
coloratura82's review against another edition
1.0
I was bored to tears with this one. Nothing interesting happened. I had to skim a lot of it to avoid giving up.