Italian Ways - by Tim Parks (Paperback)
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<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br>The bestselling author of "Italian Neighbors" returns with a wry and revealing portrait of Italian life--by riding its trains.<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br>Tim Parks's books on Italy have been hailed as so vivid, so packed with delectable details, [they] serve as a more than decent substitute for the real thing (<em>Los Angeles Times Book Review</em>). Now, in his first Italian travelogue in a decade, he delivers a charming and funny portrait of Italian ways by riding its trains from Verona to Milan, Rome to Palermo, and right down to the heel of Italy. <p>Parks begins as any traveler might: A train is a train is a train, isn't it? But soon he turns his novelist's eye to the details, and as he journeys through majestic Milano Centrale station or on the newest high-speed rail line, he delivers a uniquely insightful portrait of Italy. Through memorable encounters with ordinary Italians--conductors and ticket collectors, priests and prostitutes, scholars and lovers, gypsies and immigrants--Parks captures what makes Italian life distinctive: an obsession with speed but an acceptance of slower, older ways; a blind eye toward brutal architecture amid grand monuments; and an undying love of a good argument and the perfect cappuccino.</p><p> <em>Italian Ways</em> also explores how trains helped build Italy and how their development reflects Italians' sense of themselves from Garibaldi to Mussolini to Berlusconi and beyond. Most of all, <em>Italian Ways</em> is an entertaining attempt to capture the essence of modern Italy. As Parks writes, To see the country by train is to consider the crux of the essential Italian dilemma: Is Italy part of the modern world, or not?</p><p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br>[A] treat equivalent to a ride on the Orient Express... <em>Italian Ways</em> is no Ferrari on rails but instead something much better: a slow train so thoughtfully appointed that one never thinks to look out the window or care about the destination.--Ben Downing "Wall Street Journal"<br><br>[Parks is] a perfect guide--an outsider, but one with a deep familiarity and respect (plus a dash of exasperated skepticism)--to the country's celebrated eccentricities. Parks has a charming voice and a novelist's eye.--Chloë Schama "Smithsonian"<br><br>A movable feast to say the least.--Richard Eder "Boston Globe"<br><br>Delightful [and] hilarious.... Combining wonderfully evocative prose with a wry analysis, Parks provides local color while continually seeking hidden social meaning.... The result is a fascinating portrait of a society that seems rooted in place no matter how fast it goes.-- "Publishers Weekly, starred review"<br><br>Fascinating [and] droll.... Parks [is] perhaps the most faithful foreign inamorato Italy has ever had.--Andrea Lee "newyorker.com"<br><br>Incisive [and] hilarious.--Alexander Aciman "The Daily Beast"<br><br>Parks really shines. He gives us a country that is as frustrating as it is endlessly fascinating.--Marjorie Kehe "Christian Science Monitor"<br><br>Presents a picture of Italy you won't get from any tourist board... sympathetic and lively.--Micahel Upchurch "Seattle Times"<br><br>Relaxed, humorous, meandering [and] charming.--Brigitte Frase "Minneapolis Star Tribune"<br><br>This mix of piercing social observation and undying affection for Italy is classic Parks.--Rachel Donadio "New York Times"<br><br>Engrossing, entertaining, and wonderfully revealing about the country and its people. It makes perfect armchair travelling - a delight from beginning to end.--David Lodge, author of Changing Places<br><br>This is the best book I've ever read about Italy. Never have I encountered a more insightful and hilarious insider/outsider portrait of the country at the center of Western civilization. Tim Parks should be given a villa in Rome and the title of English ambassador.--Sean Wilsey, author of Oh the Glory of It All<br><br>Tim Parks has reinvented the narrative of the train journey with an epic voyage into the essence of Italy itself. With a novelist's keen eye he mines absurdity and deep meaning from small, overlooked moments and gestures.--Tom Vanderbilt, author of Traffic<br>
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