Search results for ""Author John Hooper""

'Hooper has written a fascinating, affectionate and well-researched study that delivers the tantalising flavour of a country as hot, cold, bitter and sweet as an affogato' The Telegraph'This portrait of a nation is required reading for anyone heading to a Tuscan villa or Puglian beach this summer' Financial TimesSublime and maddening, fascinating yet baffling, Italy is a country of endless paradox and seemingly unanswerable riddles. John Hooper's marvellously entertaining and perceptive book is the ideal companion for anyone seeking to understand contemporary Italy and the unique character of the Italians. Looking at the facts that lie behind - and often belie - the stereotypes, his revealing book sheds new light on many aspects of Italian life: football and Freemasonry, sex, symbolism and the reason why Italian has twelve words for a coat hanger, yet none for a hangover.

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A fully revised, expanded and updated edition of this masterly portrayal of contemporary Spain.The restoration of democracy in 1977 heralded a period of intense change that continues today. Spain has become a land of extraordinary paradoxes in which traditional attitudes and contemporary preoccupations exist side by side. Focussing on issues which affect ordinary Spaniards, from housing to gambling, from changing sexual mores to rising crime rates. John Hooper's fascinating study brings to life the new Spain of the twenty-first century.

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Italy has been, and remains, a dream destination for many tourists. Travellers to the country enjoy its cultural history, beaches, climate, and wonderful food, but if one looks behind the beautiful backdrop of the historical old cities and magnificent landscapes, one often encounters the other side of Italy: citizens’ dissatisfaction with their own country, poverty, chaos, environmental pollution, the mafia, and violence, as well as a corrupt, decadent political system. In his journeys from the south to the north of the country, the photographer Christian Jungeblodt (*1962), who lived in Italy for a long time himself, makes the closeness of beauty and ugliness, luster and squalor, grandeur and the abyss visible. Essays by renowned authors like Petra Reski and John Hooper accompany this photo book with its wealth of colour photographs and black-and-white smartphone photos. Text in English and Italian.

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A fresh new translation of Collodi's cherished classic of childhood adventureCarved from a piece of magical wood by the old carpenter Geppetto, the puppet Pinocchio comes to life and is almost immediately cast into a series of extraordinary misadventures. Featuring mischievous animals, a wise cricket and, of course, a nose that grows, The Adventurous of Pinocchio is one of the world's most beloved fairy tales.This sparkling new translation by John Hooper and Anna Kraczyna captures the rascally spirit that makes the playful and easily distracted Pinocchio an icon of children's literature, while also revealing the novel's quiet message about the dangers of social inequality and the duty of kindness humans owe one another.

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