Tuscan Echoes: A Season in Italy

• Paperback - 30 June, 2004 - Almar Books
• Usually ships in 6 to 12 days
• By: Mark Gordon Smith
• ISBN: 0974098310

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Reviews by readers

A blend of memoir and philosophy

Tuscan Echoes: A Season In Italy by Mark Gordon Smith brings together a blend of memoir and philosophy in the author's varied, sometimes eccentric, yet always engaging ruminations upon Italy. Memories of Italian childhood are combined with a modern-day revisit and a dedicated quest to perceive and understand what is the essence of Italian life and culture. An articulate and attention engaging addition to any library biography collection, Tuscan Echoes is a superb and original extended meditation on nationality and identity.

An EXCEPTIONAL Travel Book

"What is it, travelers have asked for ages, about Italy? For those whose ancestors came from these valleys, from this country, the answer probably lies in their lineage. For the rest of us, the answer simply lies in the timeless view of verdant abundance below room twenty four. "
P 72. Tuscan Echoes, A Season in Italy

In Tuscan Echoes, A Season in Italy, Mark G. Smith has managed an amazing feat. He has written an exceptional travel book without any pictures.

Author Mark G. Smith writes with such intimacy and intensely personal imagery that the reader can only imagine he/she is traveling side by side with the author. This comprehensive, dramatic and spiritual journey through some of Italy's most spectacular landscapes and historical landmarks is presented in masterful literary style.

Tuscan Echoes, A Season in Italy is the perfect length at 170 pages, for a quick intellectual get away. As the pages turn, you as the reader will be transported to Florence, Venice, Assisi, Umbria and Tuscany. Images of the landscape so vivid you will imagine you can smell the dark richness of the espresso and feel the heartbeat of the cobblestones in the piazza through the soles of your feet. You will be immersed in the sights, sounds and smells of the Italian culture. Quaint cafes will tantalize your senses. Friendly, out going people will welcome you and majestic churches will provide soulful inspiration. By the last page you will feel as if you truly hear the Tuscan Echoes.

Author Mark G. Smith's personal experience with Italy has been life long. He lived near Florence as a child and as an adult, spent more than thirty years traveling this fascinating country .His passion for the Tuscan region is evident in his intimate descriptions, which evoke a deep longing in the readers to experience Italy for themselves. This memoir represents one season. If your average day is just plain hectic, then this book will allow you to escape for a few hours to the land of serenity, beauty and passion. Give yourself a truly enjoyable journey of discovery. This book would also make an excellent gift for your favorite armchair traveler or as a take along guide for the serious traveler.

Reviewer: Shirley Roe, Allbooks Reviews

Skip this book

What makes Tuscany so dazzling to so many? Its art, terrain, art, history, art, cuisine, art, people? Yep, all of the above. But you'll learn next to nothing about any of them by reading this book. It's little more than the author's love letter - he does love Tuscany - written with a grammar school vocabulary and expository style. I finished reading it solely because it turned out to be the only book I had on a long flight.

You want literary tributes to Tuscany, read the real thing: Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Browning, Lord Byron, E. M. Forster, Henry James, Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mark Twain, and Edith Wharton.

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