Every Day in Tuscany: Seasons of an Italian Life (Thorndike Press Large Print Nonfiction Series) - Hardcover

KIRKUS REVIEWS
JANUARY 1st, 2010
MAYES, FRANCES
EVERY DAY IN TUSCANY
"Seasons of an Italian Life
Broadway (320 pp)
$25.00
March 9, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7679-2982-0
"Mayes ("A Year in the World: Journeys of a Passionate Traveller, 2006, etc) "continues to gather voluptuous memories in Tuscany...and Umbria, Liguria, the Marche and beyond.
This collection of two-dozen set pieces finds the author true to her romantic form-hungry to live as close to the bone in her corner of Tuscany as possible, to drink in equal measure from the local wine, the paintings of Luca Signorelli, village folklore and the lilac morning sky. Occasionally she slips into deliquescence, but mostly she's stirring the reader's gastric juices with luscious tales from the table or tendering a descriptive nugget that holds fast in the mind's eye. This might be a day trip to nearby Loreto, "home of the house of the Virgin Mary, borne aloft by angels in 1294, and blown in a storm from Croatia, where it has paused en route from Nazareth"; a morning spent foraging asparagus, fennel flowers and figs; an owl that lifts the roof tiles and squeezes into the attic; or finding a grenade, with accompanying warning note, in her front yard. This last event was the result of a certain dissenting brashness she brought to a civic issue. Understandably distraught, Mayes never quite convinces the reader that the "bomba" will end her days in Cortona, but rather she will learn how to get her opinion heard without discovering explosives in the garden. Food is the pivot around which her days swing, and Mayes serves it forth with brio and dash-and recipes, including stuffed and fried olives, Parmesan flan and chicken under a brick. If the parade of art, food, elemental landscape and abiding camaraderie gives the reader a case of eye-ache and envy, the author can only be admired for having worked hard to earn the life and for celebrating it with such genuine relish.
Mayes the sensualist in full b

#1 "NEW YORK TIMES" BESTSELLER
A "NEW YORK TIMES" NOTABLE BOOK
An intense celebration of what [Mayes] calls 'the voluptuousness of Italian life'...appealing and very vivid...[The] book seems like the kind of thing you'd tuck into a picnic basket on an August day...or better yet, keep handy on the bedside table in the depths of January.
" New York Times Book Review
" This beautifully written memoir about taking chances, living in Italy, loving a house, and, always, the pleasures of food, would make a perfect gift for a loved one. But it's so delicious, read it first yourself.
" USA Today
" Mayes [has] perfect vision...I do not doubt that centuries from now, whoever lives in Bramasole will one day uncover bits of pottery used at Mayes's table. She has, by the sweat of her brow and the strength of her vision, become a layer in the history of this place.
" Los Angeles Times
" Irresistible...a sensuous book for a sensuous countryside.
" Minneapolis Star Tribune
"
[A] parade of art, food, elemental landscape and abiding camaraderie...stir[s] the reader s gastric juices with luscious tales...Food is the pivot around which her days swing, and Mayes serves it forth with brio and dash-and recipes.
" Kirkus Reviews
" Mayes s affectionate and warm memoir vividly celebrates the lush abundance and charm of daily life in the Italian countryside.
" Publisher's Weekly
"
The woman who singlehandedly started the travel-memoir craze returns with more on her life in Tuscany...With a four-city tour; can't miss.
" Library Journal
"
We re right there with Mayes, fighting every urge to jump straight into these sun-soaked and citrus-scented pages...Mayes is generous with her thoughts, and her evocative writing simply oozes charm and warmth. In these times, this quick read is a thoroughly enjoyable way to visit Italy without once considering the heartbreaking dollar-to-euro conversion rate.
" Booklist""

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK

An intense celebration of what [Mayes] calls 'the voluptuousness of Italian life'...appealing and very vivid...[The] book seems like the kind of thing you'd tuck into a picnic basket on an August day...or better yet, keep handy on the bedside table in the depths of January.
New York Times Book Review
This beautifully written memoir about taking chances, living in Italy, loving a house, and, always, the pleasures of food, would make a perfect gift for a loved one. But it's so delicious, read it first yourself.
USA Today
Mayes [has] perfect vision...I do not doubt that centuries from now, whoever lives in Bramasole will one day uncover bits of pottery used at Mayes's table. She has, by the sweat of her brow and the strength of her vision, become a layer in the history of this place.
Los Angeles Times
Irresistible...a sensuous book for a sensuous countryside.
Minneapolis Star Tribune

[A] parade of art, food, elemental landscape and abiding camaraderie...stir[s] the reader s gastric juices with luscious tales...Food is the pivot around which her days swing, and Mayes serves it forth with brio and dash-and recipes.
Kirkus Reviews
Mayes s affectionate and warm memoir vividly celebrates the lush abundance and charm of daily life in the Italian countryside.
Publisher's Weekly

The woman who singlehandedly started the travel-memoir craze returns with more on her life in Tuscany...With a four-city tour; can't miss.
Library Journal

We re right there with Mayes, fighting every urge to jump straight into these sun-soaked and citrus-scented pages...Mayes is generous with her thoughts, and her evocative writing simply oozes charm and warmth. In these times, this quick read is a thoroughly enjoyable way to visit Italy without once considering the heartbreaking dollar-to-euro conversion rate.
Booklist"

In addition to her Tuscany memoirs, Under the Tuscan SunandBella Tuscany, FRANCES MAYES is the author of the travel memoirA Year in the World; the illustrated booksIn TuscanyandBringing Tuscany Home;Swan, a novel;The Discovery of Poetry, a text for readers; five books of poetry; and most recently a southern memoir, Under Magnolia. She divides her time between homes inItalyandNorth Carolina. Visit France Mayes s blog at www.francesmayesbooks.com."