The Wisdom of Tuscany: Simplicity, Security & the Good Life - Making the Tuscan Lifestyle Your Own

This sun-drenched land has become synonymous with the ideal life. But it didn't happen by chance. Since the Etruscans, the independence-loving Tuscans have treated their breathtaking countryside with sagacious respect and built hamlets and hill towns in which they perfected a culture of simplicity, beauty, neighborliness, good food, and love of daily life. Ferenc Máté has lived in Tuscany for twenty years. Through personal experience and anecdotal history he explores the sources of this idyllic existence, which provides continuous economic stability, physical and emotional security, and a fortifying sense of belonging. From their organic gardens to their mouthwatering cuisine, from high-quality, craftsmen-made products and family-run businesses, to the joys centered in human contact and community, Tuscans live a healthy, all-senses-satisfying, emotionally rich life. Máté--engaging, funny, and insightful--nudges us all to live like Tuscans. With our frantic world so storm-tossed and rudderless, this might just be the book for our times.

"One of the best books on Italy this year--I recommend y to all who celebrate Italy." Truby Chiaviello

"It's possible to learn from distant travels and put those lessons to use at home. [Máté] uses the people of Tuscany as examples of folks who have learned the art of living within the community...possessing creative practicality, down-home humor and relentless optimism." Primo

"Through anecdotes and some absolutely mouth-watering recipes, Máté celebrates the warmth and simplicity of his adopted homeland... celebrated by Máté appeals to me on several levels, as I'm sure it will appeal to many of you." The Salt Lake Tribune

"A book that will delight the senses and rekindle anyone's sense of adventure. Máté tells us how to live the good life, casting off the impersonal and rededicating ourselves to the deeply personal. A lovely thought for these times." San Francisco Book Review

By the author of the international bestseller and the Notable Book : making the Tuscan life-style your own.

Ferenc Mate has lived in Tuscany for twenty years. Through personal experience and anecdotal history he explores the sources of this idyllic existence, which provides continuous economic stability, physical and emotional security, and a fortifying sense of belonging. From their organic gardens to their mouthwatering cuisine, from high-quality, craftsmen-made products and family-run businesses, to the joys centered in human contact and community, Tuscans live a healthy, all-senses-satisfying, emotionally rich life. Mate engaging, funny, and insightful nudges us all to live like Tuscans. With our frantic world so storm-tossed and rudderless, this might just be the book for our times. "

Ferenc Máté was born in Hungary and escaped after the revolution at the age of eleven. He grew up in Vancouver, and has lived in California, Paris, Rome, the Bahamas and New York. He had worked on a railroad extra-gang and as a boatbuilder, photographer, deckhand and book editor. His many books include the nautical bestsellers From a Bare Hull, Shipshape and The World’s Best Sailboats, as well as Autumn, A New England Autumn, A Reasonable Life, A Real Life, The Hills of Tuscany and The Wisdom of Tuscany. He and his family run their vineyards and winery in Montalcino, Tuscany.