| Italian Ways: On and Off the Rails from Milan to Palermo Contributor(s): Parks, Tim (Author) |
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ISBN: 0393348822 ISBN-13: 9780393348828 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company OUR PRICE: $14.36 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: May 2014 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Travel | Europe - Italy - Travel | Essays & Travelogues - Travel | Food, Lodging & Transportation - Rail Travel |
| Dewey: 385.220 |
| Physical Information: 0.8" H x 5.4" W x 8.2" (0.40 lbs) 288 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Italy |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: 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?" |
Contributor Bio(s): Parks, Tim: - Tim Parks was born in Manchester, England, in 1954, grew up in London, and has lived in Italy since 1981. His novels include Europa, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and he is the author of several nonfiction accounts of life in Italy, including Italian Neighbors and An Italian Education. During his years in Italy, Parks has translated works by Italo Calvino, Roberto Calasso, Alberto Moravia, and Machiavelli. He is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books, for which he blogs. |