{"product_id":"american-english-italian-chocolate-small-subjects-of-great-importance-9781496201195","title":"American English, Italian Chocolate: Small Subjects of Great Importance","description":"\u003ci\u003eAmerican English, Italian Chocolate\u003c\/i\u003e is a memoir in essays beginning in the American Midwest and ending in north central Italy. In sharply rendered vignettes, Rick Bailey reflects on donuts and ducks, horses and car crashes, outhouses and EKGs. He travels all night from Michigan to New Jersey to attend the funeral of a college friend. After a vertiginous climb, he staggers in clogs across the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. In a trattoria in the hills above the Adriatic, he ruminates on the history and glories of beans, from Pythagoras to Thoreau, from the Saginaw valley to the Province of Urbino. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Bailey is a bumbling extra in a college production of \u003ci\u003eRichard III\u003c\/i\u003e. He is a college professor losing touch with a female student whose life is threatened by her husband. He is a father tasting samples of his daughter's wedding cake. He is a son witnessing his aging parents' decline. He is the husband of an Italian immigrant who takes him places he never imagined visiting, let alone making his own. At times humorous, at times bittersweet, Bailey's ultimate subject is growing and knowing, finding the surprise and the sublime in the ordinary detail of daily life. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Nebraska Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/01\/2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781496201195\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 222\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.63lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.50d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/24\/2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/15\/2017\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Rick Bailey","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39637939323061,"sku":"9781496201195","price":16.96,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_011af08e-b279-4451-a3e3-ece8b9f76575.jpg?v=1617679445","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/american-english-italian-chocolate-small-subjects-of-great-importance-9781496201195","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}