Product Review

Life is more "dolce" when you Live Like an Italian!

*ATTENTION* Since 10/15/2013 this book has been updated, revised, and re-edited resulting in a 90% increase in content as well as improved accuracy and clarity. If you purchased the book previously, you may download the updated version through your “Manage My Kindle” page.

What is it precisely about Italians and their country that foreigners find so intriguing? Yes, there’s the rich history, the postcard-ready landscapes, and the incredible food. But it goes beyond that, doesn’t it? There’s some sort of secret recipe that produces an overall flavor which somehow surpasses the sum of its delicious ingredients.

When foreigners try to sort out this mysterious formula, they always seem to fall back on the clichés and stereotypes that are no longer accurate (if they ever were). Mention Italy and most people call to mind checkered table cloths and a mustachioed guy playing the mandolin. Then upon encountering the “real” Italy, the reality often falls short of their dreamy ideal. And yet I would argue that the country and its people are even more appealing once you abandon your expectations and take the time and effort to get properly acquainted.

This is not a guidebook in the classic sense. It contains no hotel or restaurant suggestions and no list of “must see” sites. Rather, it’s a small peek into the daily lives of Italians—real Italians, not the “gladiator” posing for a picture next to the Colosseum (those guys are from Eastern Europe, not Italy, by the way) or the gondoliere singing “O sole mio” (a true Venetian would know very little about Neapolitan songs). This is a wide-angle look at the bel paese through the curious eyes of an American expat in Rome.

So if you’re ready to renounce Chicken Parmesan and Frank Sinatra, then read this little book and learn what it’s like to really live like an Italian!