Description
Book Synopsis“So inviting you might find yourself tempted to give the experience a whirl and ride the Italian trains yourself, book in hand.”—Liesl Schillinger,
New York Times Book ReviewTrade Review"[A] treat equivalent to a ride on the Orient Express…
Italian Ways is no Ferrari on rails but instead something much better: a slow train so thoughtfully appointed that one never thinks to look out the window or care about the destination." -- Ben Downing - Wall Street Journal
"This mix of piercing social observation and undying affection for Italy is classic Parks." -- Rachel Donadio - New York Times
"Fascinating [and] droll…. Parks [is] perhaps the most faithful foreign inamorato Italy has ever had." -- Andrea Lee - newyorker.com
"Parks really shines. He gives us a country that is as frustrating as it is endlessly fascinating." -- Marjorie Kehe - Christian Science Monitor
"[Parks is] a perfect guide—an outsider, but one with a deep familiarity and respect (plus a dash of exasperated skepticism)—to the country’s celebrated eccentricities. Parks has a charming voice and a novelist’s eye." -- Chloë Schama - Smithsonian
"Incisive [and] hilarious." -- Alexander Aciman - The Daily Beast
"Relaxed, humorous, meandering [and] charming." -- Brigitte Frase - Minneapolis Star Tribune
"A movable feast to say the least." -- Richard Eder - Boston Globe
"Presents a picture of Italy you won’t get from any tourist board… sympathetic and lively." -- Micahel Upchurch - Seattle Times
"Tim Parks has reinvented the narrative of the train journey with an epic voyage into the essence of Italy itself. With a novelist’s keen eye he mines absurdity and deep meaning from small, overlooked moments and gestures." -- Tom Vanderbilt, author of Traffic
"This is the best book I’ve ever read about Italy. Never have I encountered a more insightful and hilarious insider/outsider portrait of the country at the center of Western civilization. Tim Parks should be given a villa in Rome and the title of English ambassador." -- Sean Wilsey, author of Oh the Glory of It All
"Engrossing, entertaining, and wonderfully revealing about the country and its people. It makes perfect armchair travelling – a delight from beginning to end." -- David Lodge, author of Changing Places
"Delightful [and] hilarious…. Combining wonderfully evocative prose with a wry analysis, Parks provides local color while continually seeking hidden social meaning…. The result is a fascinating portrait of a society that seems rooted in place no matter how fast it goes." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review
