Under the Tuscan Sun

• Paperback - 01 September, 1997 - Broadway
• Usually ships in 24 hours
• By: Frances Mayes
• ISBN: 0767900383

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About this book

In this memoir of her buying, renovating, and living in an abandoned villa in Tuscany, Frances Mayes reveals the sensual pleasure she found living in rural Italy, and the generous spirit she brought with her. She revels in the sunlight and the color, the long view of her valley, the warm homey architecture, the languor of the slow paced days, the vigor of working her garden, and the intimacy of her dealings with the locals. Cooking, gardening, tiling and painting are never chores, but skills to be learned, arts to be practiced, and above all to be enjoyed. At the same time Mayes brings a literary and intellectual mind to bear on the experience, adding depth to this account of her enticing rural idyll.

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Reviews by readers

Taking a big chance

This is beautifully written and I hated that for a bit. The author writes with such passion and desire for Tuscany that i thought she was exaggerating and I nearly put the book down. Then I came upon the recipes she included and for whatever reason that hooked and kept me reading till the end. This is a very good book.

The "Innocents Abroad" live!

Talk about a typically clueless American. I threw this book away after reading about half in exasperation.

It sure isn't the movie version!

Having seen and enjoyed the movie years ago, I was intrigued to get the whole story. Books usually tell it so much better. This one doesn't. So, if you're looking to read a better version of the movie, this isn't it - go buy the script.

There's no drama, no character development, no humor, no love story! It's just imagery, imagery, imagery. BORING. It was good for putting me to sleep, but that's about it. Here's the cliffsnotes version of the book: Two professors go to Italy, buy a house, fix it up, visit it every summer and Christmas and serve lots of dinners to lots of other people, all who have no story to tell either. You also get a lot of descriptions of doorways and vegetables. There, you've read it!

Whoever wrote the script for the movie was a genius to find a way to make something interesting out of this SNOOZEFEST! Save your money, go rent the movie.

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