Recommended: Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr

Overview:

 

Anthony Doerr has received many awards -- from the New York Public Library, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the American Library Association. Then came the Rome Prize, one of the most prestigious awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and with it a stipend and a writing studio in Rome for a year. Doerr learned of the award the day he and his wife returned from the hospital with newborn twins.Exquisitely observed, Four Seasons in Rome describes Doerr's varied adventures in one of the most enchanting cities in the world. He reads Pliny, Dante, and Keats -- the chroniclers of Rome who came before him -- and visits the piazzas, temples, and ancient cisterns they describe. He attends the vigil of a dying Pope John Paul II and takes his twins to the Pantheon in December to wait for snow to fall through the oculus. He and his family are embraced by the butchers, grocers, and bakers of the neighborhood, whose clamor of stories and idiosyncratic child-rearing advice is as compelling as the city itself.

This intimate and revelatory book is a celebration of Rome, a wondrous look at new parenthood, and a fascinating story of a writer's craft -- the process by which he transforms what he sees and experiences into sentences.

 

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Side Note: Doerr's most recent work All the Light We Cannot See has received tons of critical acclaim, but it's far from his first inspiring work. Four Seasons chronicles his early writing career and his experience spending a year at the American Academy in Rome, writing.

Three Romes by Duncan Fallowell

Overview:

 

In 1972 on a long summer vacation in a near-empty apartment; in September 1987 to track down the designer Valentino; in 2013 for a winter’s stay which – somehow – finds the author entering one of the most astonishing secret places in the world: three eras, three different approaches, but clearly all from the same hand. As original and provocative as ever, Duncan Fallowell takes the reader through his personal experience of the city on an eerie spiral of romance and comedy and wonder. This is Rome as you’ve never read it before

 

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Review:

 

Three Romes records Fallowell's visits to the Eternal City in 1972, 1987 and 2013. Part one reminded me of Jack Kerouac: rambling, conceptual, and slightly hazy. It felt ripped from Fallowell's diary. He was the intended audience. Part two reads as an article, perhaps for the Life & Style section for the Wall Street Journal.  Part three lands somewhere between the two. An established writer taking notes for himself, to use for a later published work.

 

Personally, I enjoyed the 2013 piece the most. Fallowell seems to have hit his stride; producing a piece that is atmospheric, suspenseful, engaging, and masterful. It was the only piece that really exudes 'Rome' for me. 1972 was a very individualized experience. An excellent example of creative writing, but not necessarily relatable. 1987 was interesting, but said little about Rome or Italy.

 

Review: Eating Rome by Elizabeth Minchilli

Having spent two stints living in Rome, I was excited to read about the Eternal City’s food and how our experiences compared.

Elizabeth Minchilli’s Eating Rome does not disappoint. I found Minchilli’s advice for navigating the Roman food world extremely accurate and her infusion of personal experiences charming. From the Italian take on breakfast to successfully ordering a gelato, how to shop the open markets to the best way to eat a Bianco pizza, Minchilli takes the reader on more than a culinary adventure.

Originally I thought Eating Rome would be a guide on what to eat: where to find best pizza, gelato or cappuccino. It has all that, but also so much more. Minchilli captures the allure and essence of Rome and its’ residents. It is the experience of navigating the open markets or trying to buy a cornetto. Plus there are the delicious recipes, which I can’t wait to try.

*I received an advance reviewer copy of this book from NetGalley.