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Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
From its opening scene of an impromptu alfresco village feast of fried zucchini blossoms, fennel-roasted pork, and pudding made from the cream of a local blue-eyed cow, this memoir of the seasons in a small Tuscan village is rich with food, weather, romance and, above all, life. De Blasi continues the adventures begun in her A Thousand Days in Venice, as she and her husband, Fernando, leave Venice for Tuscany in search of "a place that still remembers real life... sweet and salty... each side of life dignifying the other." Fortunately, the two are adopted by Barlozzo, an elderly local eager to share his knowledge of the old ways. He introduces them to the local customs: grape harvesting, truffle hunting, bread baking, etc. Although the book teems with food references, including recipes for intriguing traditional dishes, de Blasi is more than a sunny regional food writer—she digs into the meaning of life. As she fights Fernando's periodic depressions and brings him back to joy, gains Barlozzo's trust and love, learns his troubling lifelong secrets and comes to terms with the death of a beloved friend, she immerses her readers in life's poignancy, brevity and wonder.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
Readers who enjoyed de Blasi's earlier work, A Thousand Days in Venice (2002), may be startled that the author has moved from Venice to Tuscany. Still much in love with the man for whom she left everything, de Blasi embarks on an idyllic, if hardworking, Tuscan life. The couple purchases an old farmhouse and is chagrined that it's not conveyed in the condition promised. Their neighbors welcome them to the community with a groaning board featuring all manner of Tuscan foods and capped off with a dessert that only hours earlier had been milked from a "blue-eyed" cow. As in her earlier work, most chapters close with recipes, ranging in complexity from braised pork stew that serves as both a pasta sauce and an entree to simple bruschetta, toasted bread topped with local olive oil. Thanks to de Blasi's style of rendering conversations first in Italian, then English, a careful reader can quickly pick up some useful conversational Italian. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
If you like to eat, you'll love this book,
By Karen MacIntyre (Sydney, Nova Scotia Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Thousand Days in Tuscany: A Bittersweet Adventure (Paperback)
This book is just what you need to escape the world of North American life. If you enjoy a bottle of red wine and some italian(or french) bread with some cheese, set yourself up and read for an hour or so.The book is an easy read with simple yet inviting recipes at the end of every chapter or so. Set in a small Tuscan village it is an autobiographical report of the authors time there. Every story seems to surround a meal. It just seemed to be a nice place to go(the book) when life is crowding in.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars (39 customer reviews) 32 of 32 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
More Enjoyable than Frances Mayes' Books,
By Italian Dreamer - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: A Thousand Days in Tuscany: A Bittersweet Adventure (Hardcover)
Having lived and worked in Italy during the 60s and early 70s, I found Marlena De Blasi's recounting of her time spent in a very small town in Tuscany more in sync with what actually happens in such a place. It was easy for me to bring forth a picture in my mind and actually feel as if I was there. Mrs. Blasi's characterizations of persons encountered was complete.I would highly recommend "A Thousand Days in Venice" as an accurate interpretation of what happens in Italy on a daily basis. 25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Feast for the Heart and the Soul.........,
By Susan Desisto - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: A Thousand Days in Tuscany: A Bittersweet Adventure (Hardcover)
Do yourself a favor and read de Blasi's "A Thousand Days in Venice" before embarking on the sequel "A Thousand Days in Tuscany". It is not required reading, but you would be missing out on a delightful and unusual love story which sets up this book so perfectly.Do not mistake this book for a cook book. It is so much more. De Blasi's writing is a feast of sumptuous descriptions of not only food, but life in Tuscany and the joy of knowing she is living her life exactly as she wants to. After reading the book, I was taken aback to find how strongly I wanted to meet this person and be a part of her circle of friends. She is as warm and senuous as the olive oil drizzled on the crusty, roasted, tuscan breads. This book could have been filled with photographs, but they weren't necessary. De Blasi's descriptions will fill your mind's eye with amazing visuals of life in rural Tuscany. I hope when you finish the book(s) you will feel, like I do, that your heart and soul have been amptly nourished .... and your taste-buds truly inspired! 15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
De Blasi's Tuscany...a peaceful, descriptive masterpiece,
By R. Nicholson - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: A Thousand Days in Tuscany: A Bittersweet Adventure (Paperback)
A small gem!Every once in a while a book comes along that really moves me with its quiet beauty; "A Thousand Days in Tuscany" fits easily into this category. Wonderfully written and easy to read with its soft descriptive prose; the words transport you from your comfortable sofa to a magnificent area of Italy that is renowned for its people and its unique landscape. The book follows two new arrivals to the Tuscan region of Italy and tells of their interactions with the local residents; people who soon become part of their daily routine. Each chapter is a small vignette describing a situation (usually with a local personage), a trip and, above all, food; in fact all chapters get around to the discussion of, or preparation of food. Most chapters end with a recipe for the main dish that was describe in the chapter involved. All in all, a warm, quiet and beautifully descriptive short book about an area of the world that all of us would probably love to visit at least once in our lifetime. Highly recommended. |
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