Italy Books

Mary Ann Esposito's cookbooks are EXCELLENT. Nella Cucina, Ciao Italia and her Celebrations books all contain very authentic recipes that are easy to follow and delicious. Depending on what part of the country you live in, a few ingredients might be hard to find but overall the recipes are well adapted for a typical American kitchen. If you grow your own vegetables in the summer, there are some wonderful ideas on how to use them.

I've started cooking using this book and the recipes are varied and delicious. I just cooked the "Shrimp with Spicy Tomato Sauce" for guests last night and everyone loved it. It was a really simple but wonderful recipe. Most recipes in the book are not difficult and the explanations and layout of the ingredients are very clear and easy to follow. Ms. Esposito's writing style is entertaining and approachable. If you like cooking Italian food, I'd get this book, "Mangia Pasta", "Ciao Italia" and "Ciao Italia -- Bringing Italy Home" by the same author as I have done. I have been reading them every day since I got them. Great fun!

A great cookbook. Directions are easy to understand and the recipes are wonderful. This is a cookbook I use often

This much anticipated (by me) followup to Mr. Morrison's first book: ANTONIO'S APPRENTICESHIP,is a delightful story and beautiful to view. As his only brother/sibling I've grown up watching him (Taylor), flip over placemats at restaurants, draw in books, and bring home steadily more beautiful work from school. But as a psychiatrist, I appreciate the affect of his work. In a time of "in-your-face attitude", there is quiet times in his book: in the story, and the paintings and (my favorite) the drawings. Sometimes the body language reminds me of times working with Taylor and my dad around our house (I know one painting has the sky from our backyard). My recommendation is to find a kid (preferably 3rd-4th grade) struggling with homework, soccer, and music practice, read this book together, and enjoy the quiet time

Morrison has captured the essence of the apprenticeship program in Renaissance Italy. Illustrated and written by Morrison, the book describes the process used in sculpting massive pieces and the quarry process. Fully illustrated in Morrison's inimitible style, this fictionalized account describes the life of a young apprentice in his quest to learn the "art."

Fully illustrated, historical fiction, includes full glossary of art terms used.

Of interest to young artists, Renaissance Italy buffs and children in grades 4-6.

An enchanting story of a boy's dream and his realization of the importance of patience takes place during alandmark period in art history.

The Neptune Fountain/The Apprenticeship of a Renaissance Sculptor by Taylor Morrison recreates seventeenth century Italy in glorious detail.

Descriptions of the famous Carrara marble quarries and the painstaking steps involved in creating a sculptural fountain's main figure are vibrantly authentic.

I love to travel but I have never added to the sales of those memoirs of hapless outsiders who renovate a barn or farmhouse in Provence, Tuscany or Umbria. No matter how well-written, most are self-conscious narratives recycling the same ingredients: coping, making friends--and enemies--and eating well. Joan Marble's book is refreshingly different. She and her husband built rather than renovated, and in Etruria, off the touristic track; they nurtured unforgiving soil producing delights for the table. But it is the delight of armchair gardening that makes this book such a good read. There is humor and pathos in how this couple celebrate life. Highly recommended.

A truly delightful book about Italians, human behavior, history, travel, and gardening. The author paints a picture with her words, captures your imagination, and makes you chuckle at the unique Italian way of living. From buying land and building a house to sinister business deals, to marriage contracting, gardening fetes and disasters, this book will charm and delight you on many different levels. I enjoyed this book so much more than "Under the Tuscan Sun." This is truly a gem of a book.

Joan Marble has created a work of great beauty in "Notes from an Italian Garden." She has a profound knowledge of gardening and the countryside of central Italy, of Italian history and the Italians of today, and all this is reflected in her book. From my own years in Italy I can testify to the book's accuracy; far beyond that, it reflects a rare sort of felicity and civility. I want to believe that in future centuries people will come back to this book to read how two Americans led such pleasant and productive lives in the Italy of our time.

One learns an enormous amount about the buildings and the man from this beautiful book. Indeed it is the place to go for Alberti as master builder.

Alberti's buildings were mostly left incomplete, altered, or unfinished by others, his original intentions often impenetrable. Tavernor goes further than previous scholars in untangling this confusion in his impressive, handsomely illustrated study. Though complex and learned, his book has a clarity and consistency of aim in its analysis of the process by which theory is related to architecture.

Robert Tavernor's On Alberti and the Art of Building is a book for which every student of Renaissance history in my young day would have sold his soul, for it presents this seminal theorist as an architect of rich intelligence and aesthetic sensibility, his excitement irresistibly infectious. With Tavernor's help we see through the alterations, false completions and unfinish of the buildings and comprehend Alberti's original intentions; reconstructions, models and photographs of astonishing documentary clarity support the exhilarating text. This book will no doubt pass unnoticed except by those few art historians whose imaginations were touched by Alberti when they first discovered him in Florence, Mantua and Rimini, and stood in awe of flawed perfection, but this monograph is, for me, the best art book of the year. Brian Sewell, Art Critic, London Evening Standard, 11 December 1998.

One of the best ways for children's books to introduce youngsters to the wonders of classical music and opera is to use loveable animals as heroes, and Tess Weaver's "Opera Cat" is one of the best in this genre. Not only will children be delighted by it, but any adult who likes opera or cats (or both!) is bound to greatly enjoy it.

Alma is a Siamese cat who lives in Milan with the great opera diva Madame So-So. Shut up in the soprano's apartment since her kittenhood, she longs to go outside and experience the wonders of the city, but can only watch enviously from the window. Everyday Alma watches as Madame So-So practices for the opera with the Maestro, and is always delighted when the Maestro kisses Madame's hand and calls her 'cara'. Unbeknownst to the humans, Alma herself sings along quietly behind a curtain during these rehearsals. Then one night Madame So-So comes down with laryngitis, and Alma reveals that she, too, has a magnificent voice. Will Alma be able to save the opera, have her moment in the spotlight, and break free of her apartment prison?

Weaver clearly loves opera as much as her characters do and the passion and occasional silliness of this world fill every page. Alma is a sweet and kind-hearted feline heroine, as well as an adventurous and musically gifted one. I am also very happy that in contrast to the stereotype of the operatic soprano as a horrendous egomaniac, Madame So-So does turn out in the end to be a very nice and gracious person. In addition, Andrea Wesson's vibrant watercolor illustrations are delightful, full of little details and capturing both the wonder of the opera house and the energy and bustle of Milan. One very picky point - Madame So-So is supposed to be singing Gilda in "Rigoletto", and her elaborate costume and wig (admittedly necessary for Alma's sake) is like nothing the sweet, simple teenage Gilda would wear. Of course, this probably takes place at a time when the diva could wear whatever she darned well pleased!

Besides "Opera Cat", another wonderful book to introduce children to opera is 'The Great Poochini', written and illustrated by Gary Clement, about a dog who is an opera star.

By the way, I wonder if there is any significance to the fact that 'Alma' is the Italian word for soul...

This is a charming and refreshing story about a clever cat who finally gets her day in the spotlight. The detail of the illustrations which accompany this humorous tale is sure to maker readers of all ages laugh with surprise and delight.
It is wonderful to read a fresh, new story that will surely become a classic!

Although I am fond of neither cats nor opera, Opera Cat left me begging for an encore! The story is perky, fun and deceptively sophisticated. Readers of any age will identify with the dreams and yearnings of Alma, the cat, and will enjoy the multi-leveled humor of this charming tale set in Milan. As a retired early-childhood educator, I was attracted by the stunning style and vocabulary of Opera Cat and by the lyricism and whimsy of its illustrations. Definitely a Read Aloud for the grandchildren!

This book has excellent reproductions and is a treasure to be had. It is however very heavy and you will need a nice desk or table to rest it on so you can browse the many pages and enjoy them. This is not an art history book so for students looking for many discussions you won't find that here. It is a collectors book and also makes a wonderful souvenir for those dreaming of visiting Florence or for those who have already been there. It is a great way to view the vast collection of a world famous museum in the comfort of your own home and to learn the names of different artists and view the works they created. I would not trade this treasure of a book for anything. It would make a fabulous holiday gift for the art lover in your life.

This is a spectacular and gorgeous book. It's truly the next best thing to visiting the museums themselves. If you've ever gone to a world-famous museum and wished you could have a copy of every painting there, then this is a dream-come-true book for you. It's pricey but worth every cent. This is the sort of book that will appreciate once it goes out of print and I'll bet it'll be worth several times its price in a few years.

This is a beautiful book. It contains pictures of all the paintings you will see at both galleries and much more. It is a treasure to keep to remind me of our trip to Florence.

My daughter and I just read this book last week. It is a great book and I'm glad to have it in our library! :)

The illustrations are very eye catching for young children. My5 yo child enjoyed learning about Italy. She was interested to learnmore about why a city would have streets of water. This book was a huge hit. We must have read this book at least six times the first week after getting it.

This book is a great springboard to learning possibilities such as cats, adoption, fatherhood, gondolas (boats), and Italy. The inside front cover has information to inhance the understanding of the book. Information given on Marco Polo, Venice, Italian words and phrases, and more.

I'm glad to have this book as part of our home library.

I bought this book for my daughter and she loved it! And I found an adult companion book on Amazon: "Chats de Venise" by Robert de Laroche, that I loved, but it turned out to be handy with her, because I could show her the pictures of the real cats in Venice, like Papa Piccolo and his "found" kittens!!

Insightful,analytical and comprehensive portrait of a loving character.Is a masterpiece. Full of drama,but it was a real life drama.The "parnas" was a sensitive man struggling with his own imaginative fears but valiantly facing the real fear.

This is an incredible story.

Silvano Arieti was an extremely gifted, and very well known, psychiatrist. He was born in Pisa, Italy and, as a child, looked to The Parnas--or synagogue leader, Giuseppe Pardo Roques--as a mentor. The Parnas was mentally ill. His illness inspired Arieti's career--which, as it developed, convinced Arieti all the more that "mental illness may...espress the nobility of man."

Arieti dreamed he would one day cure The Parnas, but The Parnas was murdered by the Nazis in WWII. Decades later, Arieti recreates the last days of The Parnas, providing us with a moving potrait of an incredible man in terrible times.

While Arieti's conclusions are profound, this book is definately accessible to the high school reader.

Pisa, Italy. July, 1944. As the Nazis and Allies collide, Giuseppe Pardo Roques, lay leader of Pisa's Jewish community, is a refugee in his own home. Struggling to display strength in spite of a bizarre and debilitating neurosis, the cultured, learned and generous Pardo plays host to several others, Jews and Christians both, seeking shelter from the battle. The Parnas reconstructs Pardo's final days and his ultimate confrontation with the Nazis. At once memoir (the author knew the characters), psychological profile, and meditation on good and evil, the book's defining quality is compassion. I'll read it again.

I recently traveled to Italy with three guidebooks; this one, the Rick Steves and Fodors. I ended up throwing the other two away. This one gives the best advice by far and doesn't just send you to the places where all the other tourists are (like Steves). I really enjoyed the restaurant recommendations and found a great apartment in Rome through this book (loved the non-traditional lodgings listed in this book; so different than the other books). Great sightseeing and advice on transportation too. And Italy's expensive right now, but this book helped make it affordable. I can't tell you how terrific this book was!

I am going to Italy this Spring and I thought that this book would give me valuable information for my trip. It already saved me $400 when I used a url site for finding a cost effective flight to another place!

This book is fantastic. LOTS of websites are listed and the practical info just isn't found in other books. The DK books are great for the pics, but this book is great for the recommendations of what NOT to miss and ways to see the other non-touristy side of Italy. So far this has been my favorite book. Can't wait to go to Italy!!

"The Uffizi Gallery Museum" by Alexandra Bonfante-Warren (freelance writer, translator, and former associate editor in the Department of Publications at the Museum of Modern Art, New York) is the profusely illustrated history of the Galleria degli Uffizi, the world's oldest surviving museum. The building houses the Uffizi museum is itself considered a masterpiece designed by Renaissance architect Giorgia Vasri. Founded in the mid-1500s by the Medici family, The Ufizi museum is offers visitors one of the richest and most complete collections of masterworks that include Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Buontalenti, and Titian, among a legion of other notable artistic talents. Superbly produced and enthusiastically recommended for academicians and the non-specialist general reader with an interest in art, the full-color reproductions perfectly augment and illustrate an informed and informative text in a coffee-table book that will prove to be a popular and core addition to personal, academic, and community library Art History reference collections and reading lists.

These are two beautiful, comprehensive books - attractively packaged. We opted to buy these from Amazon after returning from Florence instead of purchasing on location - we saved money as Amazon's prices are much less and we didn't have to sacrifice precious luggage space.

After I went to Florence and saw both the Pitti Palace and the Uffizi, I searched in vain for a coffee-table quality book on both- and was thrilled with these!
I have to admit I was a little put off by not having a picture or example of the book on amazon, but I took a risk.
It is an excellent quality/heavy stock boxed set, with fabulous photos of not only the buildings, but the majority of the artworks and Boboli gardens. there is even bonus sections of collectors glass, rock crystal pieces and commissioned jewelry by a variety of Medicis. the frontpiece/backpiece outline the Medici genealogy, and there are historical narrations throughout the book of the history of the pieces, art, and politics of the times. Worth every penny, and an heirloom for any lovers of Florence.