La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind

La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind
- Used Book in Good Condition
Join the bestselling author of Ciao, America! on a lively tour of modern Italy that takes you behind the seductive face it puts on for visitorsâ‚¬"la bella figuraâ‚¬"and highlights its maddening, paradoxical true self
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You wonâ‚¬t need luggage for this hypothetical and hilarious trip into the hearts and minds of Beppe Severgniniâ‚¬s fellow Italians. In fact, Beppe would prefer if you left behind the baggage his crafty and elegant countrymen have smuggled into your subconscious. To get to his Italia, youâ‚¬ll need to forget about your idealized notions of Italy. Although La Bella Figura will take you to legendary cities and scenic regions, your real destinations are the places where Italians are at their best, worst, and most authentic:

The highway: in America, a red light has only one possible interpretationâ‚¬"Stop! An Italian red light doesnâ‚¬t warn or order you as much as provide an invitation for reflection.

The airport: where Italians prove that one of their virtues (an appreciation for beauty) is really a vice. Who cares if the beautiful girls hawking cell phones in airport kiosks stick you with an outdated model? Thatâ‚¬s the price of gazing upon perfection.

The small town: which demonstrates the Italian genius for pleasant living: â‚¬Å“a congenial barber . . . a well-stocked newsstand . . . professionally made coffee and a proper pizza; bell towers we can recognize in the distance, and people with a kind word and a smile for everyone.â‚¬Â

The chaos of the roads, the anarchy of the office, the theatrical spirit of the hypermarkets, and garrulous train journeys; the sensory reassurance of a church and the importance of the beach; the solitude of the soccer stadium and the crowded Italian bedroom; the vertical fixations of the apartment building and the horizontal democracy of the eat-in kitchen. As you venture to these and many other locations rooted in the Italian psyche, you realize that Beppe has become your Dante and shown you a country that â‚¬Å“has too much style to be hellâ‚¬Â but is â‚¬Å“too disorderly to be heaven.â‚¬Â
Ten days, thirty places. From north to south. From food to politics. From saintliness to sexuality. This ironic, methodical, and sentimental examination will help you understand why Italyâ‚¬"as Beppe saysâ‚¬"â‚¬Å“can have you fuming and then purring in the space of a hundred meters or ten minutes.â‚¬Â
Country USA
Brand Broadway Books
Manufacturer Crown
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber 9780767914406
Color White
ReleaseDate 2007-06-12
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780767914406

Country	USA
Brand	Broadway Books
Manufacturer	Crown
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	9780767914406
Color	White
ReleaseDate	2007-06-12
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780767914406

La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind

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