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Italian Ways

By Tim Parks

Italian Ways

Only 1 item left in stock
Description
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" (Los Angeles Times Book Review). 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. 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. Italian Ways 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, Italian Ways 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?"
Product details
Binding:
Paperback
Edition:
1
Number of Pages:
261
Release Date:
2014-05-05
Publication Date:
2014-05-05
Publisher:
W. W. Norton & Company
Languages:
Original: English
ISBN10:
0393348822
ISBN13:
9780393348828
GPSR Manufacturer Reference:
[email protected]
Weight:
230 g
Height:
136 cm
Width:
208 cm
Thickness:
30 cm
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The items bear minimal signs of past use, such as light scratches or memories in the form of markings. These signs of wear give the items a charming character and tell stories of their previous owners, while not affecting their functionality.
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