Book description
'People from all over Italy lay claim to living in the real Italy,
but they are wrong. The real Italy lies here, in the Comino Valley,
north of Naples, south of Rome, high in the mountains, surrounded by
the Apennine peaks.' Since childhood, Paolo Tullio has returned each
year to his hometown of Gallinaro and the immoderate, warmhearted
people of his valley, delightfully evoked here. North of Naples, South
of Rome encompasses a chaotic wine competition, the Italian cantina,
market-day haggling and truffle-hunting, winning a local election,
roasting a pig whole, and the scams and the charms of Naples. It looks
in disbelief at local bureaucracy, and observes the Catholic Church's
relationship to daily life. With fascinating detours on local
buildings, history, folklore and fashion, the reader is taken aboard a
carousel of picnics, feasts and fireworks, illuminating an unknown and
irresistible corner of Italy. 'Less manipulative than Peter Mayle ...
a wonderful initiation to the piquant joys of Italian country living
... As reviving as a hot espresso.' - The Sunday Times. 'A genuine
warm breeze of Italy blows from these pages.' - Brian Fallon, The
Irish Times. ' ...this book will warm the heart, expand the soul, and
can even be used to nourish the body.' - Image. 'A delightful, often
hilarious insight to the Italy of today. If you want to know what
makes the real Italy and real Italians tick, do not on any account
neglect to read this. You will be intrigued and delighted.' - Tim
Cranmer, Cork Examiner. Tullio brings his home town and the valley
stretching beneath alive to us with all their faults, beauty and
charm. It deserves to be more widely read than the book the fellow
wrote about Provence.' - Gillian Somerville Large, Irish Independent.
'Colourful, sometimes hilarious, sometimes frustration and pathos
filled, this is a fascinating portrayal of family life in and around
the little Italian town that has been home to the author and his many
relatives for 600 years.' - Marian Curd, The Universe
