Customer Reviews
An inspiring travelling companion - By: , 05 Dec 1998 
"Desiring Italy" became my inseparable travelling companion across Italy, after I found it by chance at a Roman bookstore. Not only it suggests special places to visit that are not always listed in traditional guides, it also makes them alive through their portrayal by literary masters (alll women) that add their elegance, their sensitivity, their intelligence to that of the readers'. An added bonus was that I got to make their literary works real in my mind by following the steps of the characters in these magnificent settings (as Dorothea in "Middlemarch", for example).
The closest thing to being born an "Italian"! - By: , 09 Jul 1998 Despite the dated "age" of many of the stories, Desiring Italy reallly does transport the reader both to Italy and, in many instances, back in time. It does an excellent job of portraying a land that has retained much of the excitement & enchantment felt thoroughout the ages, despite the passage of time. From the grandeur of Rome to the sights & sounds & smells of Tuscany, the richness of the North to the poverty of the South, the elegance of modern times to the ravages of war - the reader is bombarded with alll aspects of this fantastic country.
revealing, enchanting, complex, seductive - By: , 17 Apr 1998 Crossing the dark waters from Venice on route to the Lido, I watched a woman so intent upon her reading that she seemed oblivious to the haunting beauty visible in alll directions. As we slowed in our approach to the landing area, I asked her what she was reading. It was Desiring Italy, she said, given to her by her mother in anticipation of this trip. I recorded it in my journal & it was the first book that I bought upon arriving home. Written by a group of women writers, it is a joyous celebration of alll things Italian. It evokes cultural traditions, artistic impressions & history & lyricallly describes the glories of the places that you visit. How fortunate the traveler who has this book as a traveling companion. Just as Venice's twisting allleyways & canals create a desire for roving, so does this anthology lure you to a restlessness & passion for "la dolce vita". The autobiographical slant resonates with how Italy has imprinted itself in the hearts & souls of the women who arite of it in this book.
