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Books About Italy I'm Compulsively Reading (and Re-Reading) - Revealed Rome

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Art, Beyond Rome, History, Rome, Shopping, Tips &amp; tricks7 CommentsNo matter where I am in the world, I&nbsp;have a shelf devoted to books about Italy. Which may be why, although I started out this post planning to write a gift guide — something&nbsp;I do every couple of years — I found that everything&nbsp;that came to&nbsp;mind to include was… a book.While that partly speaks to the fact that I’m a&nbsp;nerd bookworm, it also speaks to something else: whether you’re interested in fiction or memoir,&nbsp;food or art, ancient history or World War II, there are a number of compulsively-readable&nbsp;books about Italy out there these days.What&nbsp;is my bar for “compulsively readable”?&nbsp;In the last three years, I’ve gone through two&nbsp;transatlantic moves. Each time, I’ve had to winnow down my library. Most of the books on this list are ones that I found myself re-buying after my&nbsp;last move. That’s how much I couldn’t live without them.So. Here are the books about Italy I’ve sometimes bought not once, but twice — and the person on your gift-giving list (other than you!) who might like them best.Haven’t heard of Elena Ferrante? First, crawl out from under your rock. Second, run, don’t walk, to your nearest bookstore to pick up the first novel in her “Neapolitan quartet”:&nbsp;My Brilliant Friend.The series pins down human emotions, flaws and foibles with such searing precision, it’s sometimes almost excruciating to read. On the surface,&nbsp;it’s about two girls who grow up together in the shadows of a working-class neighborhood in postwar Naples. And if you love Italy, especially the south or bella Napoli,&nbsp;it&nbsp;will give you a raw, intense look at a people and culture that tend to be stereotyped, not examined.And yet, as in&nbsp;any true masterpiece, so many of the observations Ferrante makes apply far beyond the backstreets of Naples.&nbsp;For example…On politics: “People died of carelessness, of corruption, of abuse, and yet, in every round of voting, gave their enthusiastic approval to the politicians who made their life unbearable.”On the female practice of “getting ready”:&nbsp;“All that struggle, all that time spent camouflaging myself when I could be doing something else. The colors that suited me, the ones that didn’t, the styles that made me look thinner, those that made me fatter, the cut that flattered me, the one that didn’t. A lengthy, costly preparation. Reducing myself to a table set for the sexual appetite of the male, to a well-cooked dish to make his mouth water. And then the anguish of not succeeding, of not seeming pretty, of not managing to conceal with skill the vulgarity of the flesh with its moods and odors and imperfections.”On patriarchy:&nbsp;“A community that finds it natural to suffocate with the care of home and children so many women’s intellectual energies is its own enemy and doesn’t realize it.”On life:&nbsp;“In the fairy tales one does as one wants, and in reality one does what one can.”&nbsp;(Ouch).Ever since being translated into English (the final&nbsp;instalment, The Story of the Last Child, came out in English last year), these books have been the toast of the literati. For good reason.Jonathan Harr’s The Lost Painting is so&nbsp;fast-paced, it’s often easy to forget it’s not fiction. It tells the story of how two young art students track down one of the world’s great, missing masterpieces: Caravaggio’s&nbsp;The Taking of the Christ,&nbsp;which had been gone for more than 200 years.&nbsp;In the vein of Ross King’s Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling or Leonardo and the Last Supper (also excellent, by the way), the book reads like a novel — and in this case,&nbsp;like a detective thriller. There are details about art restoration and Baroque bad-boy Caravaggio, so you will learn something. It’ll just be without realizing it:&nbsp;the chapters are short&nbsp;and the information can feel a bit thin.But as&nbsp;a fun, easy, fascinating read about one of the&nbsp;strangest stories in art history, this&nbsp;hits the mark.This is basically the book that, in my dream of dreams, I wanted to write — except there’s no way I could have done it as well as veteran Roman journalist Corrado Augias.&nbsp;The Secrets of Rome&nbsp;is well-researched, beautifully-written&nbsp;and one of those rare nonfiction works that’s easy to completely lose yourself in.Translated from the original Italian, Augias’ book is&nbsp;a journey through 2,700 years of Roman history. But not chronologically, and not for the purpose of “teaching” the city’s history as one long, cohesive story. Instead, each chapter takes&nbsp;a different corner of the city as the jumping-off point for a fascinating tale. Some are little-known, but&nbsp;even&nbsp;the stories that are famous — like Caesar’s assassination — have details that will surprise anyone but a Roman history PhD.And while history can get a rap for being dry, the book can be nothing short of emotional:&nbsp;the chapter on the massacre of the Fosse Ardeatine, the caves where 335 men were brutally executed under Nazi orders in 1943, made me cry.It’s a book that history lovers&nbsp;who have only been to Rome once or twice will love. But for those who know the city well, the book is even richer.Unless you have particular interest in World War II, it’s easy to all but gloss over it when you’re reading about Italy. After all, there’s so much else! Ancient Rome! The Middle Ages! The Renaissance!But the war completely reshaped the landscape of Italy – including its cultural and artistic landscape. The only reason it didn’t wreck&nbsp;Italy’s art and beauty even more than it did came down to the ingenuity, bravery and hard work of locals — and of a group of art historian soldiers tasked with doing whatever they could to get ahead of the Allied invasion and save what&nbsp;they could.If you’ve seen the film Monuments Men, this probably sounds familiar.But whereas I wasn’t a big fan of the film, I could barely put down the book Saving Italy — which was written by the same author as Monuments Men. I’m pretty sure that I kept saying “Oh my God, did you know this?” to my better half so often while reading the book, he couldn’t wait for me to be finished with the thing. Did you know…The book is chock-full of these kinds of compelling details — all written in a can’t-put-it-down kind of way. A must-read.I’ve known Katie Parla ever since emailing&nbsp;her when I was first toying with moving to Rome in 2009. In some ways, it seemed like she’d paved a&nbsp;path for me: we were alumni of the same university, both loved Italy and history (even narrating the same History Channel show) and wound up writing&nbsp;not-exactly-sugarcoated blogs about Rome.Here’s one big difference between us: while I consider myself a pretty greedy&nbsp;good connoisseur of Italian cuisine,&nbsp;Katie has taken it a step further. She’s made it her&nbsp;job&nbsp;to know Italy’s food inside, out and upside-down at&nbsp;a level I’ve always admired.So maybe it’s to be expected that when the book she co-authored with the talented Kristine Gill, Tasting Rome: Fresh Flavors and Forgotten Recipes from an Ancient City, came out this year, I rushed to scoop it up. If you have someone on your Christmas list who loves a) food,&nbsp;b) Rome or c) just having a really pretty cookbook on their shelves, you might want to, too.Rather than “cookbook” or “book”, Tasting Rome&nbsp;is both. It combines&nbsp;tidbits about both Rome’s food history and its contemporary culinary landscape with recipes adapted from&nbsp;some of the city’s most beloved chefs and restaurants. And while cookbook images usually look staged or stock-y, Kristina Gill’s shots are a lovely mix of both mouthwatering close-ups and&nbsp;glimpses of Rome’s hidden corners and eateries.Perhaps best of all? Parla and Gill are transplants to Rome who know the city inside and out. That means that, while they love Rome and its history, they don’t&nbsp;see the city as some glossy version of dolce vita&nbsp;come to life — and that&nbsp;mix of warmth and authenticity is at the heart of every page.Cambridge classics professor&nbsp;Mary Beard appears often on television shows about ancient Rome. A big part of the reason is her&nbsp;refreshingly straight-talking take on history — which shines&nbsp;through in her book SPQR.The book, which came out last year, isn’t for someone starting out with zero interest in Roman history. Unlike, say, The Lost Painting, no one’s going to mistake it for a novel.But it&nbsp;is&nbsp;perfect for anyone interested in Roman history, even if they’ve never studied it before: Beard treats you like you’re a smart person who&nbsp;probably has heard of the story of Romulus and Remus, but might need your memory jogged, just in case… and who definitely&nbsp;is curious about how that story came to be and what on earth all that fratricide really meant. And she’s candid and clear-eyed not only about what’s true and what’s&nbsp;not, but also&nbsp;what the Romans were really like (she dispatches one ancient legend with a simple “This is another case of Roman exaggeration”).The New York Times called her approach “a crisp and merciless clarity”.&nbsp;It’s also one that makes&nbsp;a very complicated subject very, very readable.Fifty years ago, a group of Italian scholars were getting very worried that local, “as mama&nbsp;makes it” recipes were disappearing. So they embarked on a massive research project. They visited hundreds of villages where they watched&nbsp;people cooking in front of their stoves, gathering&nbsp;2,000 recipes from every region across Italy. The result is compiled in&nbsp;La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy.The first thing you’ll notice about this book is that it’s a brick. (Do not buy this for someone about to move abroad — or who will be intimidated by a cookbook that could double as a doorstop at&nbsp;even the heaviest palazzo&nbsp;entrance).The second is that it’s so, so much more than pasta and pizza. There’s plenty of that, too. But from recipes like barley-and-potato soup (Friuli) to carp roasted with wild fennel (Umbria) to braised pork ribs (Sardinia), there’s a ton of variety – as there is in Italian cuisine itself.One of the things I love about this book is that the cooking methods are what people were actually doing. In other words: no food processors, no microwaves, no shortcuts. That makes this book a particularly good buy for anyone who enjoys incorporating a little “slow living” into their lives.But that doesn’t mean everything takes ages to make.&nbsp;Some of the recipes are deliciously simple. Take Calabria’s swordfish with mint, where the recipe is literally “Rub the fish steaks with garlic, salt them, then bread them. Heat 1/4 inch olive oil and cook the fish until golden on both sides, then drain on paper towels and let cool. Arrange them on a serving plate, sprinkle with vinegar, then dust with mint&nbsp;leaves. Let rest for at least 30 minutes before serving.”&nbsp;Done!But I also love that, as detailed as they are, the recipes can’t be followed scientifically. Sometimes that’s because of the ingredients (like the “2 lbs frogs, skinned and without heads”, for the Lombardian&nbsp;risotto alla certosina).&nbsp;But it’s often because of how the directions are given.&nbsp;Forget precise temperatures, for example: common phrases like “cook at low heat” or “as soon as it’s cooked, remove it&nbsp;from the liquid.”&nbsp;It assumes you already know the basics of cooking – and that, if you don’t, you can figure it out. And perhaps ironically, that means that while the recipes were written down to preserve at least one of their “original” and “authentic” versions, one of the best things about them is that they force you to be just a little bit creative.Just add some drips&nbsp;of olive oil and biscotti crumbs stuck in the pages to make it 100% authentic.Want more books? Don’t miss my round-up of some of the most readable books about Rome. More great inspiration for what to read (or give as a gift)&nbsp;in my lists of best&nbsp;Italian food gifts, gifts for Italy-bound travelers and gifts for culture vultures and history lovers.If you liked this post, you’ll love&nbsp;The Revealed Rome Handbook: Tips and Tricks for Exploring the Eternal City,&nbsp;available for purchase on Amazon or through my site here! I’m also free for one-on-one consulting sessions to help plan your Italy trip.artbooksfictiongiftshistoryItalyPrevious PostNext PostLoved this! Thanks for the ideas.ReplyYou write so well! Very informative and entertaining post 🙂 I’ve read the first book in the series by Elena Ferrante (in Italian) and I have the one on Rome by Augias (also in Italian), but haven’t read it yet. Thank you for these suggestions, I too think books make for great gifts!ReplyI will bring Elena Ferrante to Rome to read on my upcoming visit in September. I’m delighted I found https://www.revealedrome.com when doing my research, it has been invaluable. Thank you Amanda. I’ve just downloaded your guidebook also. Well done on a very well-informed and well-presented web / blog and guidebook.ReplyPingback: Gifts for the Italy-Bound Traveler (Updated for 2018) - Revealed RomePingback: The Best Roman History Books: 9 Favorite Reads on Ancient Rome | Revealed RomeThis site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Art, Beyond Rome, History, Rome, Shopping, Tips &amp; tricks7 CommentsNo matter where I am in the world, I&nbsp;have a shelf devoted to books about Italy. Which may be why, although I started out this post planning to write a gift guide — something&nbsp;I do every couple of years — I found that everything&nbsp;that came to&nbsp;mind to include was… a book.While that partly speaks to the fact that I’m a&nbsp;nerd bookworm, it also speaks to something else: whether you’re interested in fiction or memoir,&nbsp;food or art, ancient history or World War II, there are a number of...

Books About Italy I'm Compulsively Reading (and Re-Reading) - Revealed Rome

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