{"product_id":"italian-neighbors-9780802140340","title":"Italian Neighbors","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Notable Book of the Year: A deliciously entertaining account of expatriate life in a small village just outside Verona, Italy.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTim Parks is anything but a gentleman in Verona. So after ten years of living with his Italian wife, Rita, in a typical provincial Italian neighborhood, the novelist found that he had inadvertently collected a gallery full of splendid characters. In this wittily observed account, Parks introduces readers to his home town, with a statue of the Virgin at one end of the street, a derelict bottle factory at the other, and a wealth of exotic flora and fauna in between.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVia Colombare, the village's main street, offers an exemplary hodgepodge of all that is new and old in the bel paese, a point of collision between invading suburbia and diehard peasant tradition. It is a world of creeping vines, stuccoed walls, shotguns, security cameras, hypochondria, and expensive sports cars. More than a mere travelogue, \u003ci\u003eItalian Neighbors\u003c\/i\u003e is a vivid portrait of the real Italy and a compelling story of how even the most foreign people and places gradually assume the familiarity of home.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"One of the most delightful travelogues imaginable . . . so vivid, so packed with delectable details.\" --\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Grove Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/07\/2003\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780802140340\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 272\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.55lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.30h x 5.40w x 0.80d","brand":"Tim Parks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52732238266549,"sku":"9780802140340","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/italian-neighbors-9780802140340","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}