Synopses & Reviews
"Luca Spaghetti is not only one of my favorite people in the world, but also a natural-born storyteller. . . . This [is a] marvelous book." -Elizabeth Gilbert When Luca Spaghetti (yes, that's really his name) was asked to show a writer named Elizabeth Gilbert around Rome, he had no idea how his life was about to change. She embraced his Roman ebullience, and Luca in turn became her guardian angel, determined that his city would help Liz out of her funk.
Filled with colorful anecdotes about food, language, soccer, daily life in Rome, and Luca's own fish-out-of-water moments as a visitor to the United States-and culminating with the episodes in Liz's bestselling memoir, told from Luca's side of the table-Un Amico Italiano is a book that no fan of Eat, Pray, Love will want to miss.
Review
Unputdownable . . . A must for anyone . . . who wants to know what Spain is really like. (
New Statesman, London)
Hooper . . . not only knows where Spain has been in recent decades and centuries, but he also has an impressively authoritative view of where exactly it is today and where it is headed. (The Washington Post)
Synopsis
Washington Post bestseller
Los Angeles Times bestseller
A vivid and surprising portrait of the Italian people from an admired foreign correspondent How did a nation that spawned the Renaissance also produce the Mafia? And why does Italian have twelve words for coat hanger but none for hangover?
John Hooper s entertaining and perceptive new book is the ideal companion for anyone seeking to understand contemporary Italy and the unique character of the Italians. Fifteen years as a foreign correspondent based in Rome have sharpened Hooper s observations, and he looks at the facts that lie behind the stereotypes, shedding new light on everything from the Italians bewildering politics to their love of life and beauty. Hooper persuasively demonstrates the impact of geography, history, and tradition on many aspects of Italian life, including football and Freemasonry, sex, food, and opera. Brimming with the kind of fascinating and often hilarious insights unavailable in guidebooks,
The Italians will surprise even the most die-hard Italophile.
From the Hardcover edition."
Synopsis
A masterly portrait of contemporary Spain?fully revised, expanded, and updated Modern-day Spain is a country changing at bewildering speed. In less than half a century, a predominantly rural society has been transformed into a mainly urban one. A dictatorship has become a democracy. A once-repressed society is being spoken of as a future ?Sweden of the Mediterranean.? John Hooper?s outstanding portrayal of the new Spanish society explores the causes behind these changes, from crime to education, gambling to changing sexual mores. This new, up-to-date edition is the essential guide to understanding twenty-first-century Spain: a land of paradox, progress, and social change.
About the Author
Luca Spaghetti was born and lives in Rome. He loves Roman cooking, American music, and the Lazio soccer team. This is his first book.
Antony Shugaar is a writer and translator. Among his recent translations is Sandokan by Nanni Balestrini, for which he was awarded a 2007 NEA translation fellowship.