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Under the Tuscan Sun
 
 
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Under the Tuscan Sun (Paperback)

by Frances Mayes (Author) "I AM ABOUT TO BUY A HOUSE IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY ..." (more)
3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (355 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 22.95
Price: CDN$ 16.75 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details
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Under the Tuscan Sun + Bella Tuscany: The Sweet Life in Italy + A Year in Provence
Total List Price: CDN$ 60.95
Price For All Three: CDN$ 44.49

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Product Description

From Amazon.com

In this memoir of her buying, renovating, and living in an abandoned villa in Tuscany, Frances Mayes reveals the sensual pleasure she found living in rural Italy, and the generous spirit she brought with her. She revels in the sunlight and the color, the long view of her valley, the warm homey architecture, the languor of the slow paced days, the vigor of working her garden, and the intimacy of her dealings with the locals. Cooking, gardening, tiling and painting are never chores, but skills to be learned, arts to be practiced, and above all to be enjoyed. At the same time Mayes brings a literary and intellectual mind to bear on the experience, adding depth to this account of her enticing rural idyll. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.


From Publishers Weekly

Mayes's favorite guide to Northern Italy allots seven pages to the town of Cortona, where she owns a house. But here she finds considerably more to say about it than that, all of it so enchanting that an armchair traveler will find it hard to resist jumping out of the chair and following in her footsteps. The recently divorced author is euphoric about the old house in the Tuscan hills that she and her new lover renovated and now live in during summer vacations and on holidays. A poet, food-and-travel writer, Italophile and chair of the creative writing department at San Francisco State University, Mayes is a fine wordsmith and an exemplary companion whose delight in a brick floor she has just waxed is as contagious as her pleasure in the landscape, architecture and life of the village. Not the least of the charms of her book are the recipes for delicious meals she has made. Above all, her observations about being at home in two very different cultures are sharp and wise.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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I AM ABOUT TO BUY A HOUSE IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY. Read the first page
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Under the Tuscan Sun
80% buy the item featured on this page:
Under the Tuscan Sun 3.3 out of 5 stars (355)
CDN$ 16.75
A Year in Provence
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A Year in Provence 4.3 out of 5 stars (100)
CDN$ 10.95
Eat Pray Love
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Eat Pray Love 3.8 out of 5 stars (46)
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Bella Tuscany: The Sweet Life in Italy
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Bella Tuscany: The Sweet Life in Italy 2.9 out of 5 stars (115)
CDN$ 16.79
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Customer Reviews

355 Reviews
5 star:
 (119)
4 star:
 (76)
3 star:
 (43)
2 star:
 (44)
1 star:
 (73)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.3 out of 5 stars (355 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most helpful customer reviews

 
5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely, lovely Tuscany, Jul 12 2004
Even if you never plan to visit Tuscany, it is worthwhile to saturate yourself in Tuscan sunshine, inhale the aromas of Italian meals and feel the heartbeat of the countryside by reading this book. Mayes' words are so evocative that the scenes she describes transport you from your armchair to Tuscany immediately.
I put off reading this for quite a while thinking it must surely be overhyped. I'm glad I got past that and allowed myself the pleasure of seeing Tuscany through Frances Mayes' eyes.
I think some of the negative reviews on Amazon carry overtones of jealousy. Sure we would all love to have the funds to have a second home in a scenic spot on the planet. Wouldn't we enjoy having the summer off to indulge ourselves playing lord of the manor? I sure would, but reading her book gave me the chance to experience it vicariously and I thank her for that.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Audio version comment, Jun 24 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Under the Tuscan Sun (Audio Cassette)
The content of this is very good - but don't read it when you are travelling along empty stretches of highways and you are hungry! It's torture! I have read the first in this series -Under the Tuscan Sun and listened to the audio of In Tuscany, read by the author. I think another reviewer commented that F. Mayes obviously does not speak Italian. Well, I'm not sure whether she does or doesn't but I can certify that she has absolutely no Italian accent. Not a shred. I found that the audio was not as appealing as it might have been had it been read by someone else with a better acting voice and a facility for an Italian accent for the Italian phrases.
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2.0 out of 5 stars Bascially "A Year in Tuscany", Jun 21 2004
By M. A Bolton "quietcalifornian" (Woodland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I, like many other readers, was put off by the author's flippancy at spending money. The book was full of complaining about the costs of extreme renovations and their inconviences. I was also quite irritated when the author insinuates those that try to get a crash course in Europe, i.e. those who CAN'T afford an Italian farm house and the ability to spend 3-4 months away from there domestic jobs, are inferior to people like herself. Additionally, I found her writing to be rather unstructured. Perhaps, I would have enjoyed this more if it had been written by a poor, stuggling graduate student sleeping in hostels and taking odd jobs.
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 		 Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Fall in Love With Tuscany
Frances Mayes has written a beautiful memoir about her home in Tuscany. Along with Mayes you experience all of the crazy unsettling ups and downs of purchasing a home abroad and... Read more
Published on May 19 2004 by V. Marshall

1.0 out of 5 stars Unintentional Self Parody
At least Frances Mayes had some ostensible reason for being in Italy -- she was using American dollars to buy an Italian house, thereby doing her part to drive up the cost of... Read more
Published on May 18 2004 by Rebecca Whiting

4.0 out of 5 stars no Peter Mayle
I had the impression that Mayes wants to be Peter Mayle.
Published on May 16 2004 by snowblaze

3.0 out of 5 stars better than the movie, but not good enough
Anyone planning to visit Cortona would do better to read Amanda Craig's novel, Love in Idleness, which not only has the advantage of being funny but is infinitely better-written... Read more
Published on May 16 2004 by acarponi

4.0 out of 5 stars A really absorbing book
I loved the gentle, meandering style of this book. It is SO much better than the movie. If I were Frances Mayes, I would have some fairly vehement issues about what the... Read more
Published on May 8 2004

1.0 out of 5 stars I'll try finishing it, but I'm dubious
As a great fan of Peter Mayle and Susan Hermann Loomis, a friend bought me this book, and I tried reading through it, but got really sick of "this didnt happen, so I... Read more
Published on May 5 2004 by Rhonda Weins

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully Descriptive Memoir
Recently divorced, Frances Mayes, decides that it is time to do something that she's always dreamed of doing with her life. Read more
Published on April 30 2004 by Erika Sorocco

2.0 out of 5 stars loved the movie-not the book
This is one to slog through--she lost me half way through the book with "I almost stepped on a soft,dead rat..." please!! I would not but another F.Mayes, ever!!
Published on April 28 2004 by S. Shaffer

1.0 out of 5 stars The Biggest Snore......
The descriptions of food go on and on. Actually, the descriptions of EVERYTHING go on and on. They're not interesting or enchanting they are just words on a page. Read more
Published on April 11 2004 by Mystery Fan

4.0 out of 5 stars yummy book!
Reading this book was like being submerged in a warm scented bath. As I read it, I felt like I was being born along on a raft on a sleepy, sunny summer day. Read more
Published on April 11 2004

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