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Italian Neighbours: An Englishman in Verona
 
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Italian Neighbours: An Englishman in Verona (Paperback)

by Tim Parks (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
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Italian Neighbours: An Englishman in Verona + An Italian Education + The Dark Heart of Italy
Price For All Three: £19.37

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Product details

  • Paperback: 327 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage; New edition edition (3 May 2001)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0099286955
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099286950
  • Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.4 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 7,278 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #31 in  Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Europe > Italy
    #100 in  Books > Travel & Holiday > Travel Writing

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Product Description

Review
"A dark-chocolate version of Peter Mayle's milkier offering... Tough, funny and sceptical." -"Tatler"
"Italian Neighbours is not about the escape to an idyll, but about a different way of living. It's a clever job Parks has pulled off (and seriously instructive)." -"City Limits"

Product Description
This is a clever, entertaining book, rare in travel literature, it is charged with a sense of purpose.

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Italian Neighbours: An Englishman in Verona
74% buy the item featured on this page:
Italian Neighbours: An Englishman in Verona 4.4 out of 5 stars (10)
£6.99
The Dark Heart of Italy
10% buy
The Dark Heart of Italy 3.6 out of 5 stars (40)
£5.39
A Season with Verona
8% buy
A Season with Verona 4.8 out of 5 stars (40)
£6.99
An Italian Education
5% buy
An Italian Education 4.0 out of 5 stars (4)
£6.99
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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews
5 star:
 (8)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
64 of 68 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Real every-day Italian culture unveiled, 6 Jun 2001
By A Customer
This book, like "An Italian Education" by the same author, makes a compulsory reading for who really wants to know about Italian culture and I don't mean how they cook, how they dress or how they play football. Tim Parks has lived for twenty years in the town where I was born and I have to admit that it took an Englishman to pinpoint the every-day Italian characteristics and ways of living. For me it was a bit of a revelation because I never thought all the idiosincrasies, manias and madness of Italian society were anything to write about, but then a friend at work told me there was a guy who lived in Verona who wrote a book... and here I am, reviewing it. The book is brillant, thoroughly enjoyable, it is always witty, hilarious and critical at the same time, it makes such an entertaining reading. One breezes through the chapters. I could see myself, my family and friends in them and this is the way we are over there, this is so spot-on! The author got it so right! I think this book is very special because Tim Parks understood the culture of the place where he lives writing a couple of superbly entertaining books about it in the meanwhile.
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Accurate, Amusing and Perceptive, 28 Nov 2000
By Vince Cabrera (Milan, Italy) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Italian Neighbours: An Englishman in Verona (Paperback)
After years of despairing over writers who do zero research before setting a book in Italy, over authors that don't even bother to check the spelling of the words they put into their Italian characters' mouths (Mario Puzo is one hilarious example), I have finally come across this terrific book.

Tim Parks has truly lived here. He has had a good look around and understood what he has seen- I have never read such an accurate book on Italian society and mores as seen from a foreigner's point of view.

As the previous reviewer has noted, this is NOT a travel book: the author prefers to describe it as "an arrival book". It is a humourous and charming study of Italian culture by a writer who has chosen to make his home here.

Be warned though. Parks uses a LOT of Italian terms and phrases and this is probably unavoidable. His characters would sound stilted otherwise. The down side is that if you are not quite familiar with the Italian language this book could be a bit trying on your patience as a reader. To be fair though, one must add that it's nothing a good dictionary couldn't fix and that it's well worth persevering.

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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Neighbours AND family, 20 Jun 2003
By Patricia Sneesby "40 years an expat" (Cordoba, Spain) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
As well as the delightful descriptions of customs that are culturally different, belonging to a different pace of life, there is more. It takes a brave man to tackle the subject of foreign in-laws, and Tim Parks does it with humour and patience. The parents-in-law who arrive and leave with no warning, make promises to their grandchildren that are not kept, who maintain a protective attitude towards grown-up sons, the expectations of loving greetings and being thanked profusely as this is the real reward for small gifts. This is a different culture for Tim Parks, where his children learn to take things for granted that their foreign father finds strange, but by observing and often bridging the gap between the generations he learns to understand, and to accept. A fascinating view of the complicated relationships in a family, where the foreigner always reminds himself that HE is the different element, and adapts. An eye-opening read for the increasing group of people who through intercultural / international marriage find themselves lost in a strange web, and also a good idea for ANY person dealing with in-laws, even if they share the same nationality, because the culture is always different.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Tries to be realistic, but is sometimes just cynical
Tim Parks has a habit of writing on subjects I'm fascinated by - Italy, football, education - so it's a bit odd that I tend to find his books hard-going and uninspiring. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Romanista

5.0 out of 5 stars Finely observed vignettes of Italian life
This is an incredibly well-written book. Let's state right from the outset that this isn't even remotely a tourist guide, but if you know Italian life off the tourist beat just a... Read more
Published on 11 Mar 2007 by Smst1

1.0 out of 5 stars Horrible book
The book offers cruel portraits of the author's neighobours and friends.
It's not funny and the informative bits about Italian lifestyle and habits
are scattered among... Read more
Published on 23 Sep 2006 by K. Brent

5.0 out of 5 stars Living in an Italian town
I thoroughly enjoyed reading his book, it is always nice to know how foreigners see you! Tim Parks is a good observer and gives you plenty of details on his surprise at some of... Read more
Published on 26 Mar 2003 by Matiqua

5.0 out of 5 stars Italian Neighbours
For anyone wanting an insight into true italian characters this is the book for you.

Although he is married to an italian, and therefore his acceptance to the local community is... Read more

Published on 20 Jan 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Witty and true
Tim Parks gives candid accounts of the Italian people he encounters without being cutting or negative. It is a warm and humourous book, I whole-heartedly recommend it. Read more
Published on 2 May 2002 by juliedickson

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book
Tim Parks gives candid accounts of the Italian people he encounters without being cutting or negative. It is a warm and humourous book, I whole-heartedly recommend it. Read more
Published on 13 Jun 2000

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