Mayes, Frances

A Year in the World: Journeys of A Passionate Traveller

Average customer rating:

Jumble Sale
Diff'rent Strokes....
A Year in the Restaurant
Continuing Saga from a great Writer
Sounds Like Somebody Needs a Nap

A Year in the World: Journeys of A Passionate Traveller
Frances Mayes
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0767910060
Release Date: 2007-03-13

Book Description

The author who unforgettably captured the experience of starting a new life in Tuscany in bestselling travel memoirs expands her horizons to immerse herself—and her readers—in the sights, aromas, and treasures of twelve new special places.

A Year in the World is vintage Frances Mayes—a celebration of the allure of travel, of serendipitous pleasures found in unlikely locales, of memory woven into the present, and of a joyous sense of quest. An ideal travel companion, Frances Mayes brings to the page the curiosity of an intrepid explorer, remarkable insights into the wonder of the everyday, and a compelling narrative style that entertains as it informs.

With her beloved Tuscany as a home base, Mayes travels to Spain, Portugal, France, the British Isles, and to the Mediterranean world of Turkey, Greece, the South of Italy, and North Africa. In Andalucía, she relishes the intersection of cultures. She cooks in Portugal, gathers ideas in the gardens of England and Scotland, takes a literary pilgrimage to Burgundy, discovers an ideal place to live in Mantova, and explores the essential Moroccan city of Fez. She rents houses among ordinary residents, shops at neighborhood markets, wanders the back streets, and everywhere contemplates the concept of home. While in Greece, she follows the classic Homeric voyage across the Aegean, lives in a bougainvillea-draped stone house in Crete, and then drives deep into the Mani. In Turkey with friends, she sails the ancient coast, hiking to archaeological sites and snorkeling over sunken Byzantine towns. Weaving together personal perceptions and informed commentary on art, architecture, history, landscape, and social and culinary traditions of each area, Mayes brings the immediacy of life in her temporary homes to the reader. An illuminating and passionate book that will be savored by all who loved Under the Tuscan Sun, A Year in the World is travel writing at its peak.

Customer Reviews:

Jumble Sale.......2007-06-08

This is a sloppy uneven collection of essays. I slogged all the way through it but found myself skipping paragraphs and pages. It seemed like she was writing as an academic for other academics. I am not averse to seeing literary and historical references in travel writing, but Ms. Mayes went overboard here. The first chapter, on Spain, was riddled with Lorca and Machado quotes and comments, an overabundance of historical background and less about her actual travel experiences. The Portugal chapter was much better and I enjoyed her descriptions of the food eaten. There were mercifully few literary references. There was one chapter on Italy which is in the form of a letter to someone named Stephen (no explanation given) which is completely unreadable. It's merely a litany of wines. I skipped on. In later chapters I got tired of her ridiculing fellow tourists, especially overweight people. She frankly comes off as an elitist. I enjoyed her other books and once met her is person. She is a fine writer and a very congenial person. This book is far from her best.

Diff'rent Strokes...........2007-05-05

Well, I've read a sample of the reviews of 'A Year in the World' and wondered how it is that people can fee so differently about a book and breathe the same way....I adored it! I have read 'Under the Tuscan Sun' & 'Bella Tuscany' and loved Frances Mayes writing, and I didn't know that this book existed until I picked it up at Amsterdam airport enroute to San Francisco a few weeks ago.....I was ecstatic and the book didn't disappoint. I had read over half of it when we landed and kept picking it up at random intervals...it stayed with me. I think she writes with a fascinating depth...part anthropological, part historical....I love her musings and trains of thought on other worlds and other times - and the timeless quality of local foods and their wonderful description just adds another enticing layer. I also loved the way that each chapter was independent of the whole - for instance, the cruise to Greece was almost like it was in a different book to the friends reunion in Scotland...and that, to me, was so descriptive of this wonderful earth we live on and it's differences and similarities. Being British, I can only apologise for us 'reserved English' and for the dreadful standard of the rented accommodation here - Frances & Ed, you're more than welcome at our house any time! Thanks for a great book.

A Year in the Restaurant .......2007-04-21

I received this as a gift partly for the reason that I like to travel but also for the reason that the giver (my wife) probably was hinting and hoping about a European trip.

From the title of the book I expected travel and descriptions of the world from someone that has absorbed it deeply in Italy (from her previous books) and was now about to show us the culture, art, food and life across the globe. I looked forward to what she was going to write about India, Thailand, China, Spain etc. Well I did see what she thought about Spain but mostly only about her and her husband's eating experiences there. This continued through Portugal, Sicily, France, Italy, a side trip to Morocco and England. There were no adventures outside of Europe other than Morocco (is this the world?) and little about anything other than eating or cooking. Perhaps I should have looked at the map at the beginning of the book to see what her world consisted of.

There were moments of good writing about the history and culture of Spain and Morocco and I enjoyed the depiction of the countryside of the interior of Portugal. I did feel that I struggled to the point of almost not wanting to read the book until I would get to a section that illustrated something novel about a place I would like to visit, someplace I never heard of in Turkey with fantastic archeology or a flower covered balcony on a quiet hillside in Sicily with a view of a sparkling warm sea.

If you are seriously into dinning in Europe this is quite the book but otherwise it may be a chore to pull out something of interest between meals.

Continuing Saga from a great Writer.......2007-03-19

"Continuing saga of the life of the author of Under the Tuscan Sun - this time sharing her tales from all around the Mediterranean and beyond."

Sounds Like Somebody Needs a Nap.......2007-03-16

I couldn't help thinking, as I jumped from chapter to chapter, looking to recapture that melting-in-the-chair feeling from previous books, that Frances Mayes has turned into a cranky, jaded baby. I don't hear her fascination and delight anymore - or at least I don't hear the authenticity. I can imagine she's tired, and that a million obligations come with being so successful. So then, just...stop. Stop writing until you're ready to write and have something you really want to say. I started growing basil in my garden because of your books on Tuscany. The only thing this latest book made me want to do is stop reading.

Average customer rating:

Beautiful photographs
In Tuscany
Complete the Experience
Photos Photos Photos
Wonderful

In Tuscany
Frances Mayes
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Bella Tuscany: The Sweet Life in Italy
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Bringing Tuscany Home: Sensuous Style From the Heart of Italy
A Year in the World: Journeys of A Passionate Traveller
The Most Beautiful Villages of Tuscany (Most Beautiful Villages)

ASIN: 0767905350
Release Date: 2000-10-31

Amazon.com

Frances Mayes continues her love letter to Italy in this sequel to Under the Tuscan Sun and Bella Tuscany. The restoration of her home, Bramasole, is complete, but Tuscany keeps unfolding. While the earlier books chronicled her and her husband's first years in Italy, this one is less full of stories than meditations on the elements of Tuscan pleasures, accompanied by photographs that give color to the place Mayes has described so lovingly and well.

"What makes the people so friendly, no, not just friendly, so genuinely kind and generous?" Mayes asks an Italian friend, then turns her intense attention to answer the question herself. Her answers range from baci (kisses), an intimate expression that "keeps alive the joy we all are born with," to la piazza, the navel of Italy's intense sense of community, to a deep love affair with food and seasonal delights. (Mayes shares the latter and once again gives recipes from the traditional to the idiosyncratic while her poet-husband Edward treats us to a description of the olive harvest). Then there is the Tuscans' territorial attachment to the land. Place, Mayes writes, makes you who you are and it is by reading the landscape that you find the story of how the people lived. Like a guidebook written by a good friend who reveals to you all the secret places they've found, Mayes leads us from out-of-the-way towns to great frescoes to tiny restaurants with exquisite delicacies (and even gives you their addresses). Turn down any one of Mayes's streets and there is something to contemplate.

<blockquote>In the distance you see villages crowning a hill or protectively stacked against a slope. Every one pulls me toward its altarpiece, special triptych, arched gate, gothic window, or fountain. Every one has its opinionated, eccentric, friendly, and intrinsic characters who make each place deeply itself. </blockquote>

Once again, Mayes presents Tuscany as an irresistible place where the pleasures are unexpected, sumptuous, and downright enviable. Immersing yourself in In Tuscany is the next best thing to being invited home to Bramasole. --Lesley Reed

Book Description

From the bestselling author whose memoirs Under the Sun and Bella Tuscany have captured the voluptuousness of Italian life comes a lavishly illustrated ode to the joys of Tuscany's people, food, landscapes, and art.   In Tuscany celebrates the abundant pleasures of life in Italy as it is lived at home, at festivals, feasts, restaurants and markets, in the kitchen and on the piazza, in the vineyards, fields, and olive groves.  Combining all-new essays by Frances Mayes and a chapter by her husband, poet Edward Mayes, with more than 200 full-color photos by photographer Bob Krist, each of this book's five sections highlights a signature aspect of Tuscan life:

La Piazza--the locus of Italian village life.  With photgraphs of the shop signs, the outdoor markets, medieval streets, people, their pets and their cars, and snippets of conversations overheard, Mayes reveals the life of the Piazza in her town of Cortona as well as out-of-the-way places such as Volterra, Asciano, Monte San Savino, and Castelmuzio.

La Festa--the celebration.  Essays and photos of feasts and celebrations, such as the Christmas dinner for twenty-seven at a neighbor's house and a donkey race around the church at Montepulciano Stazione, illustrate how the Tuscans celebrate the seasons--their open ways of friendship, their connection to nature, and most of all, their sense of abundance.

Il Campo--the field.  Here Edward Mayes evokes the deep sense of the shift of seasons as he picks olives before he and Frances head off to the olive oil mill and enjoy the first bruscette with new oil.

La Cucina--the kitchen.  An intimate view of the all-important role of the kitchen in Tuscan culture, including photographs of her own kitchen and gardens, menus from great local cooks, the elements of the Tuscan table, dishes with cultural and culinary notes on each, and, of course, delectable recipes.

La Bellezza--the beauty.  From the quality of the light falling on sublime landscapes in different seasons and Tuscan faces in moments of laughter to a silhouette of cypress trees in the early evening and a wild bird perched on a neigbor's head, In Tuscany features views of beauty that reveal the singular splendor of one of the world's best-loved and most artistic regions.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful photographs.......2006-06-29

This book is quite different from Mayes' first two books about Tuscany, which were more like travel memoirs. This book's focus is photographs, accompanied by some commentary, thoughts, and insights from Mayes, as well as some recipes. Frankly, I didn't read the text at all. I just enjoyed the photographs. I wish I'd had this book when I was reading Under the Tuscan Sun and Bella Tuscany because all the places she talks about in those books are scattered throughout the pages of this book in beautiful photographs. We finally get to see what Mayes' charming Bramasole house looks like, as well as the town of Cortona and the surrounding Tuscan countryside. If you haven't read Mayes' first two books, read them and have this one handy so you can see for yourself just how beautiful these houses, towns, and people are.

In Tuscany.......2005-09-21

If you are the least bit interested in anything Italian then this is the book for you. "In Tuscany" has a great intro into the lifestyles there and more. There are many beautiful pictures and easy to follow recipes. A must have for those who are looking for a ecsape from our busy lives or an inspiration to redecorate your own home.

Complete the Experience.......2003-10-07

A delicious feast for the eye and heart. If you have read the book, if you have travelled in Tuscany this book brings it all home visually.

Photos Photos Photos.......2002-07-10

This is a necessary companion to Mayes' earlier books about the restoration of her home. This book is all about photos of Tuscany and the hill town (apparently Italy's oldest) of Cortona in particular. These photos compliment her previous works very well by showing you what she is seeing in an area of Italy she knows so well. Tuscany and Umbria are beautiful places. I have seen other photograph books with better pictures of Tuscany and Umbria, but this one goes along with Mayes' previous books. I have driven down the road on the cover and it is truly a site to see. Don't get confused by other reviews which reference the images from this book as "Italy" in general. Not all of Italy is like this, but the hill towns of Tuscany and Umbria are and a must see for the traveller who is looking to relax for a week or two in the Tuscan or Umbrian hillside.

Wonderful.......2002-03-15

I have all three books about living in Italy by Frances, and visited Italy 2 1/2 years ago. I feel as though she is seeing and experiencing through my eyes! How exciting that Frances captures the exotic land and people with such accurate detail. I can't wait to go back!

Average customer rating:

Disappointing
If wishes were horses we'd be eating steak
Boring
Francis Mayes' Italian Adventure Continues
This book provides an imaginary escape for the reader...

Bella Tuscany: The Sweet Life in Italy
Frances Mayes
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Under the Tuscan Sun
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ASIN: 0767902831
Release Date: 1999-04-06

Amazon.com

Work's still not completely finished on Bramasole, the Tuscan house that California-based poet and bestselling author Frances Mayes bought a decade ago and has been fixing up every summer since. Nevertheless, in Bella Tuscany, she goes out--in search of Italy and Italian life. The sequel to Under the Tuscan Sun is awash with sensual discovery, from Sicilian markets with "rainbows of shining fish on ice" to the aqueous dream of Venice "shimmering in the diluted sunlight." Wherever she is, Mayes celebrates everyday rituals, such as picking wild asparagus, "dark spears poking out of the dirt ... stalks as thin as yarn" and driving through country rains, as "the green landscape smears across the windshield" for buffalo mozzarella and demijohns of sfuso--bulk wine kept fresh with a slick of olive oil on top. Mayes also ventures into the world of the locals, some "bent as a comma" and others throwing six-hour communion feasts where half a dozen cooks in a barn continually send out heaping platters of pasta with wild boar sauce, roasted lamb, and even the thigh of a giant cow--wrapping up the festivities with honeyed vin santo, grappa, and dancing to the accordion. Capturing the details that enrich the commonplace, in Bella Tuscany Mayes appears less like a visitor and more like someone discovering in Tuscany a real home and a real life. --Melissa Rossi

Amazon.com Audiobook Review

Following up on her bestselling novel, Under the Tuscan Sun, Frances Mayes returns to her beloved villa in the small hill town of Cortona, Italy. Welcomed back like an old friend, she is soon puttering in the garden, and as Mayes devotees might expect, busy in the kitchen as well. As Mayes rediscovers her taste for la dolce vita, she embarks on a journey of cultural awakening and embraces a newfound romance with the Italian language and people. "I came to Italy expecting adventure," reads Mayes. "What I never anticipated is the absolute sweet joy of everyday life."

Mayes is as generous a cook as she is a writer, flavoring her story with tasty descriptions of local gustatory delights--many of which are included in a small recipe book. She also serves as narrator, and the beguiling simplicity of her voice makes listening as enjoyable as spending an afternoon with a well-traveled favorite aunt. (Running time: 9 hours, 6 cassettes) --George Laney

Book Description

Frances Mayes, whose enchanting #1 New York Times bestseller Under the Tuscan Sun made the world fall in love with Tuscany, invites us back for a delightful new season of friendship, festivity, and food there and throughout Italy.

Happiness? The color of it must be spring green, impossible to describe until I see a just-hatched lizard sunning on a stone. That color, the glowing green lizard skin, repeats in every new leaf. The regenerative power of nature explodes in every weed, stalk, branch. Working in the mild sun, I feel the green fuse of my body, too. Surges of energy, kaleidoscopic sunlight through the leaves, the soft breeze that makes me want to say the word "zephyr"--this mindless simplicity can be called happiness.

Having spent her summers in Tuscany for the past several years, Frances Mayes relished the opportunity to experience the pleasures of primavera, an Italian spring. A sabbatical from teaching in San Francisco allowed her to return to Cortona--and her beloved house, Bramasole--just as the first green appeared on the rocky hillsides.

Bella Tuscany, a companion volume to Under the Tuscan Sun, is her passionate and lyrical account of her continuing love affair with Italy. Now truly at home there, Mayes writes of her deepening connection to the land, her flourishing friendships with local people, the joys of art, food, and wine, and the rewards and occasional heartbreaks of her villa's ongoing restoration. It is also a memoir of a season of change, and of renewed possibility. As spring becomes summer she revives Bramasole's lush gardens, meets the challenges of learning a new language, tours regions from Sicily to the Veneto, and faces transitions in her family life.

Filled with recipes from her Tuscan kitchen and written in the sensuous and evocative prose that has become her hallmark, Bella Tuscany is a celebration of the sweet life in Italy.

Download Description

Frances Mayes, whose enchanting #1 New York Times bestseller Under the Tuscan Sun made the world fall in love with Tuscany, invites us back for a delightful new season of friendship, festivity, and food, there and throughout Italy.

A companion volume to Under the Tuscan Sun, Bella Tuscany is Frances Mayes's passionate and lyrical account of her continuing love affair with Italy. Now truly at home there, Mayes writes of her deepening connection to the land, her flourishing friendships with local people, the joys of art, food, and wine, and the rewards and occasional heartbreaks of her villa's ongoing restoration. It is also a memoir of a season of change, and of renewed possibility. As spring becomes summer she revives her lush gardens, meets the challenges of learning a new language, tours regions from Sicily to the Veneto, and faces transitions in her family life. Filled with recipes from her Tuscan kitchen and written in the sensuous and evocative prose that has become her hallmark, Bella Tuscany is a celebration of the sweet life in Italy.

<HR>

"Tuscany may have found its own bard in Frances Mayes."    NEW YORK TIMES

"This beautifully written memoir about taking chances, living in Italy, loving a house, and always, the pleasures of food, would make a perfect gift for a loved one. But it's so delicious, read it first yourself."    USA TODAY

"So enchanting that an armchair traveler will find it hard to resist jumping out of the chair and following in her footsteps."    PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"Graceful... at once joyful and full of common sense... as intimate as a lover's whisper, honest and true."    SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE BOOK REVIEW

<HR>

Customer Reviews:

Disappointing.......2007-01-26

I had heard about UtTS and how wonderful it was, so when a copy of Bella Tuscany came my way, I grabbed it happily. Perhaps I didn't give Mayes enough of a chance: I assumed she would be a female version of Peter Mayle, and write with joy and humor.

After about a third of the way through, I was thoroughly sick of her whining and sniveling. Her descriptions of food and landscape and wine, I thought, were less than dazzling, less than enamoured - they were more like descriptions from a creative writing class. Mayes became a traveling companion that annoyed me, someone who could not appreciate her good fortune, a drain on anyone's good humor.

I never did finish the book. I couldn't see my way to spend another moment with Mayes.

If wishes were horses we'd be eating steak.......2006-11-17

I get that it is the sweet life in Tuscany. I get that Frances Mayes works her [...] off planting roses and whirling all over the country side searching for the prefect tile for the butterfly bathroom. I get that she became an overnight success and very well know because of a movie based so loosely on her book Under the Tuscan Sun it was an eerily reminder of Demi Moore's version of The Scarlet Letter. I have never set foot in Italy although I know people who have. Frances Mayes is not one of them. Bully for you. I feel very put out by the book jacket glossing over all the really depressing things that run all over the "sensuous and evocative prose." And what was in the package Ed had in his suitcase for her for Christmas - what is the bloody point in saying how small it was if we don't get to find out what it was! It was like reading the ramblings of a spoiled child.

Boring.......2006-09-15

I am about half way through the book and can't bring myself to read another page. I only read this far hoping that soon it would become as interesting as her first book, but sadly I feel I've wasted enough time listening to the boring rants of wine, gardens, and other writers... If you'd like to read whole chapters devoted to describing gardens and flowers and if you like to whole chapters devoted to recipes she's come across while in Tuscany, you'll enjoy this book. The only parts I enjoyed were her travels to other parts of the country.

Francis Mayes' Italian Adventure Continues.......2006-08-18

Francis Mayes returns to Tuscany from her teaching job in San Francisco, and while continuing to work on Bramasole, she takes the time to make trips to other areas of Italy. She is feathering her nest with the beautiful pottery, great wines and cheeses, clay tiles and other treasures that she discovers as she travels beyond the village she has made her own. I love food, gardening, shopping and planning a household myself, so Mayes' accounts of her adventures in Italy really appeal to me. She has a wonderful way of describing color and texture and flavor, that makes the armchair traveller feel as though they are really in Italy. Like some other reviewers, I am unnerved by Mayes' prosperity and elitism, but I still really enjoy the fantasy of living the "sweet life", buying beautiful things, finding myself in ancient places as the sun sets, and eating wonderful food which Mayes so skillfully brings to life.

This book provides an imaginary escape for the reader..........2006-05-03

The book itself is beautifully bound with thick hand cut pages. I found it to be pleasurable simply to hold it as I read it. Frances took me on a gentle journey through various small towns, museums and trattorias throughout Italy, along with shadowing her personal journey during that 6 or so years. The book had everything I want from Ms. Mayes Tuscany stories. If you are looking for an escape to an Italian dreamland, you will like this book.

The Discovery of Poetry: A Field Guide to Reading and Writing Poems

Average customer rating:

Excellent introduction to poetry
Poetry is a personal art form - I loved this one
Little Value as an Anthology, Less as a Guide to Poetry
Great for all writers.
Massive, Deep and Worth It

The Discovery of Poetry: A Field Guide to Reading and Writing Poems
Frances Mayes
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0156007622

Book Description

The bestselling author of Under the Tuscan Sun brings poetry
out of the classroom and into the homes of everyday readers.

Before she fell in love with Tuscany, Frances Mayes fell in love with verse. After publishing five books of poetry and teaching creative writing for more than twenty-five years, Mayes is no stranger to the subject. In The Discovery of Poetry, an accessible "field guide" to reading and writing poetry, she shares her passion with readers. Beginning with basic terminology and techniques, from texture and sound to rhyme and repetition, Mayes shows how focusing on one aspect of a poem can help you to better understand, appreciate, and enjoy the reading and writing experience. In addition to many creative and helpful composition ideas, following each lyrical and lively discussion is a thoughtful selection of poems. With its wonderful anthology from Shakespeare to Jamaica Kinkaid, The Discovery of Poetry is an insightful, invaluable guide to what Mayes calls "the natural pleasures of language-a happiness we were born to have."

Customer Reviews:

Excellent introduction to poetry.......2006-05-25

This book has made poetry accessible to me for the first time in my life. The descriptions and explanations are easy to understand and are, on many occasions, lyrical. The author has helped to unravel some of the mystery of poetry for me. Indeed, I am now beginning, from the varied pieces of poetry in the book, to identify particular poets whose work I will explore further. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has always felt daunted and intimidated by poetry.

Poetry is a personal art form - I loved this one.......2005-01-18

Poetry is a very personal art form, and there will always be divergent reactions to the same work. I have read several textbooks and anthologies. This may not be the strongest text or the broadest anthology, yet taken as a whole it is the most inspiring book about poetry I have ever read. This is a text that stirs the readers emotions to someting other than boredom. It was refreshing to find a text that admits that the scansion of a poem is not set in concrete but can be open to interpretation. The selection of poems is broad and avoids the flood of dated political "poems" that have dominated college texts in years past. Any professor would do well to include this in their book list. I am amazed that any teacher would think a course in poetry or literature could be taught from only one text.

Little Value as an Anthology, Less as a Guide to Poetry.......2004-12-06

I used this book as a last minute replacement in teaching a collegiate, first year poetry class -- the anthology I intended to use had it's publication date pushed back. As such, I used it essentially sight unseen, figuring the low price would cover my not having seen it first hand. But even with the price I was terribly embarrassed for using it.

This is a miserably constructed work. Its discussions of poetry are ridiculously shallow, frequently to the point of being incorrect or misleading. It is written at the level of someone whose knowledge of poetry and poetics was gained only through reading other poor anthologies, at the level of someone who could not ever successfully demonstrate any sophistication or depth of knowledge in the field. I would be embarrassed by this book even if I was teaching _high school_ freshmen. As far as the art of poetry is concerned, as far as even _basic_ knowledge of poetry is concerned, this is less than drivel. And all the worse because of how deceiving it can be. If someone read this with no knowledge of poetry and spoke from it as a source of authority, they would frequently find themselves looking quite foolish. To me that is an egregious fault.

Yet more bleakly hilarious than how poor are the discussions is how bad the writing is. There are many places where the writing looks like it was edited from five pages to one paragraph, taking two sentences a page to make the condensation. And too often I came upon places where the poor writing created misconceptions. You would think that someone who makes their living as an author would have a little more pride in their work than permitting this to be published in their name. The writing is bad enough that I now have no desire to ever crack one of Mayes's novels.

Just to say, as an anthology, it is tolerable. There is a decent selection of poems for the price. (And it is only the price that makes it tolerable.) But in using it you will quickly find that while there may be a variety of authors, there is not a great variety of styles -- that is, there might be one or two representatives of a style or technique, but rarely enough to create a demonstration toward understanding. I was often (in my class) frustrated by not being able to find a representative of styles of verse that should be present in number in any anthology. Too much of it is contemporary, and too much of that rather unremarkable poetry. There is not nearly enough non-contemporary poetry to name itself a "field guide," not nearly enough variety to even be considered a decent sampling of the art form.

Stay away from it. It is not well crafted. For the errors and misconceptions you should definitely look elsewhere -- if you look to this to teach you something, what it will teach you (how little that is) will be error-ridden. Spend the extra money and get something of value. As someone who claims to love poetry, Mayes has done the art a great wrong, mocking it by speaking of it carelessly, revealing through her shallow presentation how little she's truly devoted herself to poetry's secrets and graces.

Great for all writers........2004-07-12

I've read the book once through and found that it's so resourceful that I'm now going back and doing extensive notes on each chapter. You certainly don't have to do this to gain some knowledge from this book, however she goes into great detail about every aspect of poetry she mentions. Not to mention the poems she adds are works of art in themselves. I recommend this book to anyone who loves to write.

Massive, Deep and Worth It.......2003-11-15

I was excited to discover this book, although its massive size at first made me curious. How much stuff is packed in here? I wondered.

The excellent features of this book include the "In Your Notebook" sections where you can try out the techniques and strategies Mayes has just explained. I also really enjoy the variety of poets whose works are introduced.

However, there are some moments where there is so much detail that I found myself losing interest and not retaining as much. In that respect, it really showed Mayes background with a university-type audience.

Book Description

Giving new life to armchair travel for 2002, here are ten unabridged tales on such varied concerns as God and airports; a dangerous Bolivian festival; one perfect meal in Cambodial; the eternal pleasures of Rome, and much more.

Customer Reviews:

a couple of excellent pieces.......2005-03-09

What a convenience to be able to find high-quality travel writing all condensed into one volume. This book covers the globe in its range of articles and essays, from Papa New Guinea to the Texas/Mexican border, from Greece to the Sahara, from Bolivia to Israel.

I found several inclusions to be truly excellent - especially Scott Anderson's piece on 9/11, Rod Davis's article on the US-Mexican border in Texas, Michael Finkel's article about the void in the Sahara, Elizabeth Nickson's piece on Salt Spring Island, Molly O'Neill following a Cambodian chef home, Kira Salak in Papa New Guinea, and Kate Wheeler in violent Bolivia. Some pieces though were a bit blah and the fact that they were alphabetically arranged meant the flow wasn't ideal. For example, the first 144 pages of the book were all by male writers, leaving me starved for a different perspective by the time I reached Kate Hennessey's piece.

There is a decidedly male tone to the book, which I found disappointing, with only 7 women represented among the 26 writers. This was reflected in a thematic focus of finding the most outlandish, isolated place on earth. I would have liked a little less reading about people setting out to do what no one had done before, and more human interactions with people of different places and cultures.

But overall, this book offers armchair travelers the opportunity to enter many different worlds from the comfort of their favorite reading place.

Uneven collection..........2005-02-15

This was a frustratingly uneven collection - when I pick up a book like this I expect consistent quality because the editors have done the work for me. But like another reviewer, perhaps I should have considered the fact that Frances Mayes edited this collection, and I'm not a fan of her work.
That said, a number of these pieces are worth seeking out. The best include Michael Finkel's "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Void," which will take you into the heart of the Sahara. Devin Friedman's "Forty Years in Acapulco," William Booth's "Throw Junior from the Car," and Lawrence Millman's "In the Land of the White Rajahs" are all very funny takes on the people and places that move us to travel. Kate Wheeler's "The Fist of God" is a stunning piece on the shocking fight festivals still held in some corners of Bolivia. Isabelle Tree's "Spetses, Greece" is a charming glipse of a corner of the world she has made into a home. And Tom Mueller's "Ancient Roads, Walled Cities" is a moving meditation on Roman roads and the power of stone to hold memory. David Sedaris' "The Man Upstairs" is funny but quite short.
On the downside, three pieces on 9/11 challenged my definition of travel writing. Only Scott Anderson's "Below Canal Street" had anything new to say on the topic, although to be fair all were writen much closer to that tragic day. Steven Bodio's "Sovereigns of the Sky" was much less about a place than a sport, and an archaic one that I didn't want to see up this close - hunting with birds. Rod Davis' "A Rio Runs Through It" told us a lot about the state and culture of life along the Rio Grande, but it is overlong and gets redundant. And I found Elizabeth Nickerson's "Where the Bee Sucks" to be a self-indulgent mess.
When this collection is good it's very good, but when it's bad it's awful.

Francis Mayes' style is evident.......2005-01-16

I have been a big fan of this series and really enjoyed last year's compilation edited by Theroux. I also must admit that I really enjoy Theroux's travel writing as well. This year's edition, edited by Mayes, has the same faults that her books do, namely, they are long on description and short on plot. I have not gotten all of the way through The Best American Travel Writing of 2002 yet but what I have read is very similar to Mayes' "Under the Tuscan Sun". If you really like tales of flowery, descriptive (and dull) walks though Italian streets, etc. you will probably enjoy this book but if you are looking for more "great adventures" travel stories, try the 2001 edition instead.

Worth it.......2003-07-07

Although I didn't like most of the stories in this anthology, there were a few that I really, really, really loved. And they made it worth the price of the book, over and over.
The introduction by Frances Mayes is a gem and really sets the tone. Especially if you were wondering why a report on 9-11 would qualify for "travel writing". (After you read that introduction, you'll -unbelievably - have to agree that it does).

The story "40 years in Acapulco" is worth the price of the book by itself. I came away feeling almost guilty like a voyeur, as if I had just gotten a sneak peek into somebody elses life. I was literally transported.

The 2000 version is much more upbeat than this one. But then, I suppose we were living in a much more upbeat "travel" world then.

Travel the world without leaving your living room.......2003-03-18

If you like short stories and travelogues you'll love this book. These are the best of the best. And like some reviewers have already mentioned, there are a wide variety of experiences and information in this collection of essays. I found myself laughing in Devin Friedman's "Forty Years in Acapulco" and Lawwrence Millman's "In the Land of the White Rajahs" and learning new information from Molly O'Neill's "Home For Dinner." I admit, however, that I did enjoy soem of the essays much better than others, but they are all very well-written and image provoking. It's as if I traveled the world without leaving my room.

Bringing Tuscany Home: Sensuous Style From the Heart of Italy

Average customer rating:

How can a Frances Mayes book be anything but fabulous??
Great photos
Really Let Down by this book.
terrific service
Enough already!!

Bringing Tuscany Home: Sensuous Style From the Heart of Italy
Frances Mayes , and Edward Mayes
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Tuscan Elements (Decor Best-Sellers)
Private Tuscany
In Tuscany
Villa Decor: Decidedly French and Italian Style
Bella Tuscany: The Sweet Life in Italy

ASIN: 0767917464
Release Date: 2004-10-05

Book Description

I always imagine each of the signoras who lived in this house—where she shelled peas, rocked the grandchild, placed a vase of the pink roses. Now I would like to take one of these women back to my house in California to show her how Bramasole traveled to America and took root, how the doors there are open to the breeze from San Pablo bay and to the distant view of Mount Tamalpais, how the table has expanded and the garden has burgeoned…

The “bard of Tuscany” (New York Times) now offers a lavishly illustrated book for everyone who dreams of integrating the Tuscan lifestyle—from home decoration and cooking, to eating and drinking, to gardening, socializing, and celebrating—into their own lives.

When Frances Mayes fell in love with Tuscany and Bramasole, millions of readers basked in the experience through her three bestselling memoirs. Now Frances and her husband, In Tuscany coauthor Edward, share the essence of Tuscan life as they have lived it, with specific ideas and inspiration for readers stateside to bring the beauty and spirit of Tuscany into their own home decor, meals, gardens, entertaining and, most important, outlook on life. In her inimitable warm and evocative tone, Frances helps readers develop an eye for authentic Tuscan style, with advice on how to:

• Choose a Tuscan color palette for the home, from earthy apricot tones to invigorating shades of antique blue.

• Personalize a room with fanciful door frames, unique painted furniture, and fresco murals.

• Cultivate a Tuscan garden, adding fountains, vine-covered pergolas, and terra-cotta urns among the herbs and flowers

• Select the best Italian vino. (Frances describes lunches at regional vineyards and imparts tips for pairing food and wine.)

• Create an atmosphere of irresistible, anytime hospitality—a casa aperta (open home).

• Make primo finds at local antiques markets. (And to help truly bring Tuscany home, shipping advice and market days for several Tuscan towns are included.)

• Set an imaginative Tuscan table using majolica and vintage linens.

• Enjoy the abundant flavors and easy simplicity of the Tuscan kitchen, with details on everything from olive oil and vino santo to pici and gnocchi, plus special homegrown menus and recipes.

• Make the most of a trip to Tuscany, visiting Frances’s favorite hill towns, restaurants, small museums, and other soothing places.

With more than 100 photos by acclaimed photographer Steven Rothfeld (including several of the Mayes’s California home and its Tuscan accents), twenty-five all-new recipes, and lists of resources for travelers and shoppers, Bringing Tuscany Home is a treasure trove of practical advice and memorable images.

Customer Reviews:

How can a Frances Mayes book be anything but fabulous??.......2006-03-28

Francis Mayes does such an incredible job of bringing Tuscany to the rest of the world. This book includes fun recipes and beautiful photos...a joy to read!
--Vicki Landes, author of "Europe for the Senses - A Photographic Journal"

Great photos.......2006-01-15

This a wonderful exploration into Italian design. Loved it. Highly recommended for the designer or homeowner.

Really Let Down by this book........2005-12-06

I was so excited when I ordered this book and so let down after getting it and looking it over. The cover is VERY deceptive. This is NOT a style/decorating book. This is the story of a couple renovating a wonderful old home in Tuscany. It is well written and at times charming and warm. It is also often quite boring reading about what stone to pick for the house and who they visited and what wine they drank. It almost seems as if the author were forcing another book out for publication!! There are VERY FEW photos...barely any really in the book. The photos present are of wine, friends, a few of the house and a few of home decor/furniture layout, and food. The photos are very striking and pretty....if you enjoy seeing their friends and not really getting any basic decorating ideas. There are about 30 recipes and photos of the food, as I said above. Some recipes are nice but I really didn't see anything new and inspiring. A good Italian cookbook would be a better investment. As for the cover....it is very deceptive to say the least since it focuses on a very pretty vignette: furniture, art, pottery and style of arrangement. This is most definitely NOT what this book is about. In fact: I found the cover to be the best part of the book. I decided to return it and look for a better book really focusing on design. The author clearly loves Tuscany and if you want a nicely written and warm hearted book to read about hers and her husband's story of renovation, friends and their love of food, wine and Tuscany then you will like this book. It is not a picture book at all but rather a reading book with a story that seems rather forced and often VERY VERY boring and drawn out for the purpose of publication.

terrific service.......2005-10-03

ordered book as a gift and at the last minute. Afraid it would not arrive in time but I received it in less than a week. It was securely packaged and looked brand new. Great experience and will definitely order from vendor again

Enough already!!.......2005-08-19

In my opinion Ms. Mayes is doing for the literary world what Thomas Kincaid has done for art.

I was absolutely entranced with Italy after reading UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN.........and equally so with BELLA TUSCANY. I must admit that while I truly enjoyed the photographs contained in IN TUSCANY I was less than satisfied with the written content. I feel that the passion Ms. Mayes felt with her first book, and so openly shared with the readers, has wained with each successive book and she is nothing but commerical at this point.

I feel she has allowed celebrity and money to corrupt her art ..... much the same as Mr. Kincaid. So, when will we see the Bramasole tea towels or the Cortona coasters???

Average customer rating:

"The mindblowingly boring guide to breathtaking Tuscany"
Pleasant reading, but not a great book
Mayes' Breakthrough Novel
A suprising read
Boring tale of a house reform

Under the Tuscan Sun
Frances Mayes
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Bella Tuscany: The Sweet Life in Italy
A Year in Provence
In Tuscany
A Year in the World: Journeys of A Passionate Traveller
Under the Tuscan Sun (Widescreen Edition)

ASIN: 0767900383
Release Date: 1997-09-01

Amazon.com

In this memoir of her buying, renovating, and living in an abandoned villa in Tuscany, Frances Mayes reveals the sensual pleasure she found living in rural Italy, and the generous spirit she brought with her. She revels in the sunlight and the color, the long view of her valley, the warm homey architecture, the languor of the slow paced days, the vigor of working her garden, and the intimacy of her dealings with the locals. Cooking, gardening, tiling and painting are never chores, but skills to be learned, arts to be practiced, and above all to be enjoyed. At the same time Mayes brings a literary and intellectual mind to bear on the experience, adding depth to this account of her enticing rural idyll.

Book Description

Now in paperback, the #1 San Francisco Chronicle bestseller that is an enchanting and lyrical look at the life, the traditions, and the cuisine of Tuscany, in the spirit of Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence.

Frances Mayes entered a wondrous new world when she began restoring an abandoned villa in the spectacular Tuscan countryside. There were unexpected treasures at every turn: faded frescos beneath the whitewash in her dining room, a vineyard under wildly overgrown brambles in the garden, and, in the nearby hill towns, vibrant markets and delightful people. In Under the Tuscan Sun, she brings the lyrical voice of a poet, the eye of a seasoned traveler, and the discerning palate of a cook and food writer to invite readers to explore the pleasures of Italian life and to feast at her table.

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Now a major motion picture froom Touchstone Pictures starring Diane Lane.

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Frances Mayes entered a wondrous new world when she began restoring an abandoned villa in the spectacular Tuscan countryside. There were unexpected treasures at every turn: faded frescos beneath the whitewash in her dining room, a vineyard under wildly overgrown brambles in the garden, and, in the nearby hill towns, vibrant markets and delightful people. In Under the Tuscan Sun, she brings the lyrical voice of a poet, the eye of a seasoned traveler, and the discerning palate of a cook and food writer to invite readers to explore the pleasures of Italian life and to feast at her table.

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"This beautifully written memoir about taking chances, living in Italy, loving a house and, always, the pleasures of food, would make a perfect gift for a loved one. But it's so delicious, read it first yourself."    USA TODAY

"Irresistible... a sensuous book for a sensuous countryside."    MINNEAPOLIS STAR-TRIBUNE

"An intense celebration of what [Mayes] calls 'the voluptuousness of Italian life'."    THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

"Armchair travel at its most enticing."    BOOKLIST

"Mayes [has] perfect vision."    LOS ANGELES TIMES

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Customer Reviews:

"The mindblowingly boring guide to breathtaking Tuscany".......2007-05-08

There is a reason why there exists a certain breed of writers, before whose titles they are credible enough to affix the word "travel". Frances Mayes is not a travel writer. In fact, I am currently debating whether she is a writer at all. I was profoundly disappointed in this book. It seems inconceivable to me that any book on Italy - that passionate and breathtakingly beautiful place - can be as dull and unexciting as this! The content was deeply insightful when relating to the topic of Italy, the culture, food or anything to do with it however a two-page in-depth walk-through the process of installing concrete beams and walls is just utter torture. (And there is a fair share of that). That said, even the good parts are slow and lacking in excitement.

The book can get very technical in parts and is almost written in a nonchalant monotone that gives rise to a sense of sarcasm and smugness. The author does little to emotionally transport the reader to Tuscany or to create context around her narration. I have just completed the book and still find it difficult to envisage Bramasole and its surroundings. Were it not for the graphic on the cover of the book, I would have constructed an entirely different image in my mind. "Under the Tuscan Sun" felt like an articulation of facts rather than the telling of a tale. Italy lends itself to a whimsical spontaneous magic, which Mayes failed to capture in her writing. I am generally a very fast reader but I literally had to force myself to finish this book...the pages agonizingly dragged on and there seemed no end in sight.

If you are a fan of Italy, don't kill the magic with this book. Conde Nast or Travel & Leisure will make for a more engaging and enthusiastic read and can create a far better experience that will make you yearn for more... Ciò è un libro molto deludente!

Pleasant reading, but not a great book.......2007-04-12

I bought this book when my husband and I were planning a driving tour of Tuscany. I have lived in Italy for two years (in Sicily) and I wanted to see how Mayes' view of living in Italy varied from my own. I loved the flowery language and descriptive phrases used. I could almost smell the sun warmed grass and taste the peaches that she described in such detail. It was her vivid descriptions that kept me from tossing the book aside when the flow of the story seemed to falter. At times I was so bored with what she was describing that I had to force myself to keep reading and it was for this reason that I gave the book 3 stars instead of 4 or 5.

Another reason that I gave it 3 stars was the author's insistance in calling the period of afternoon rest that many people in Italy observe a "siesta". For someone who claims to love Italian people and culture you would think that Ms. Mayes would be ashamed to use the Spanish translation of this practice. In Italian it is called "risposo" and is a very important part of Italian culture. Having traveled north of Rome many times I have found that it isn't as common these days, but in Sicily it is still an intergral part of their culture and you will not find a public office or family business open between the hours of 1 and 4 in the afternoon. My only explanation for Ms. Mayes continuous use of "siesta" in place of the correct "risposo" is that she knows that most Americans are familiar with the Spanish term and would require less of an explanation. This doesn't explain why she couldn't explain early on in the book that the Italian "riposo" was similar to the Spanish "siesta" and then continue to use the correct term from then on. Was she afraid her readers would be unable to comprehend a new vocabulary word? As you can see, this is a sore point for me and was a source of annoyance throughout the book.

Having written the above, I would like it clear that I did like the book and I found her description of living in Italy amusing and right on target. The recipes included were pretty authentic and when they varied from the traditional she pointed this out. If you can get through the boring bits and get over the "siesta" thing, this is a good book for light reading.

Mayes' Breakthrough Novel .......2007-04-11

The first triumph in a series of Tuscany themed masterpieces, the stupendously written "Under The Tuscan Sun" is what Frances Mayes will be remembered for. Mayes, incarcerated in a prison of hope, follows her dream of owning a home in Tuscany. She recounts the hardships, disasters, frustration, and lastly satisfaction of purchasing and restoring an abandoned Villa in a foreign country. Making new friends, discovering new places, and indulging in luscious dishes compounded with asperity and uphill battles makes her story truly sui generis.

The notion of owning a foreign property in an exotic location across the Ocean is one many Americans can easily adore especially one in such a convivial land such as Tuscany. Anyone with the slightest fantasy of immersing oneself in a whole new culture with such history and traditon will be attracted to Mayes' true story that was the inspiration for the movie of the same title. Reciting her experience of a stimulating/discouraging foreign real estate adventure, Mayes reaffirms Murphy's Law but eventually, captures the essence of satisfaction in an accomplished lifelong dream. We read all the surprises in her journey as she discovers covered Frescos, vineyards concealed in shrub, and stumbling into hidden nearby hill towns.

Mayes demonstrates that such an aspiration is indeed possible even for the average citizen stuck in an monotonous routine of work in big city America. Even the most far-fetched Hollywood screenplay stories can be achieved with a tenacious attitude and without ever quitting.

A suprising read.......2007-03-02

I say "suprising" because I am an avid fan of the movie of the same name that stars Diane Lane as a recently-divorced single woman who, on a whim, buys a villa in Tuscany. I finally got around to reading the book and the suprise came early on when I realized that the only things the movie and the book really have in common is the name and a few minor details. I was further suprised by what a page-turner this turned out to be, what with lack of a real plot and frequent stops for introspective observations. (Keep in mind that it is not a fictional novel but a memoir of sorts.) Luckily, I've been able to keep most of the reading of this book to around meal times, which is the only way you're going to get through it if you like rustic Italian food--or probably even if you don't. I've come away from the book with a great curiosity to see pictures of Bramasole (if they are published somewhere) and a desire to visit this part of Italy someday. Mayes style is pleasant and warm and the book, like the movie, has become a part of my non-edible "comfort food".

Boring tale of a house reform.......2007-02-22

I bought this book after I read the much better Peter Mayle's "A Year in Provence", since I love travel books . I was frustrated. Under The tuscan Sun is more a tale of a construction, a reform of an old house, than anything else. There is almost no interaction with the locals in the region, with the exception of the masons and electricians.

It is impossible to understand the spirit of the region, the way people there think or feel, since Frances Mayes prefers to write a diary of her experiences and inner mental wanderings instead of talking to people, much like a 14 year-old girl would. I thought about quitting reading the book (a thing I almost never do) at least a dozen times. It is all about her, but unfortunately she is not an interesting person to hold the reader's attention. You feel like you are browsing your old ant's diary.

My guess is that the book is so popular not because of the literary quality, but just because many people would like to do the same thing she has done, which is to flee the city. Unfortunately, few of us are as overpaid and underworked as an American university professor.

Das Paradies heißt Bramasole. Eine Liebeserklärung an die Toskana.

Average customer rating:

Das Paradies heißt Bramasole. Eine Liebeserklärung an die Toskana.
Frances Mayes
Manufacturer: Goldmann
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 3442451434

Bella Tuscany & Under the Tuscan Sun (2 Book Set)

Average customer rating:

A Painful Read
Perfetto Frances!! You brought me home!
Absolute Escape
Romantic traveler

Bella Tuscany & Under the Tuscan Sun (2 Book Set)
Frances Mayes
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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In Tuscany
Travelers' Tales Tuscany: True Stories
Bringing Tuscany Home: Sensuous Style From the Heart of Italy
The Most Beautiful Villages of Tuscany (Most Beautiful Villages)
A Year in Provence

ASIN: 0767999053
Release Date: 2000-04-04

Customer Reviews:

A Painful Read.......2005-02-24

When I learned the first book had been a best seller and inspired a movie, I purchased this box set with both books. In addition, I also live in Italy so I was sure this would be a great set for me to read. Wow, I really called this one wrong.

Mayes is a good writer and she certainly writes with all five senses, but most of the content in these two books was just plain boring. After spending over twenty bucks on this set, I had to force myself to read both. Mayes rambled on and on. Her memoirs just simply are not that interesting in print. My daughter brought the movie home after I finished reading the first book, and I wasn't at all suprised to find that the movie was only loosly based on the book. They almost completely changed the whole thing, and it was pretty good.

The recipes certainly were the best part of the books, but they were written in paragraph form. It definately would have been much nicer if they were printed like a typical cookbook. Also, I wish some pictures would have been included in the books. Maybe some before and after shots during the renovation for example.

Well, at least my purchase helped Mayes pay for her endless remodeling projects on not one but two homes. I'm familiar with the prices for real estate in the San Francisco area, and they are impossible for most people. Furthermore, I hope Mayes was able to complete renovations on her Tuscany home before the dollar began its downward spiral.

Perfetto Frances!! You brought me home!.......2003-10-05

Having lived in Italy myself for 4 years Frances Mayes brought me back to what I call my second home. I laughed and cried, but mostly my heart ached to be back in this wonderful country she so beautifully describes. Frances words make you hear, fell and smell everything she describes. You don't read her books you live inside them. I followed up Under The Tuscan Sun with Bella Tuscany - having taken them both on a ski trip. Read Under the Tuscan Sun on the way up out loud to my husband(9 hours driving,- made him want to return to Italy also) and opted to pass on a day of skiing to read Bella Tuscany. Thank you for taking me home! Molti ringraziamenti per così tempo divertente Frances!

Absolute Escape.......2002-12-05

Being able to lose yourself in a book, is a completely unique experience that is usually reserved for fiction. Under the Tuscan Sun, a non-fiction book absolutely does this. It reads like a novel that you cannot possibly put down.

At the same time it is real - you are there using every sense that you possess.

As a guest in the author's house, you sweat, your muscles ache and you get dusty as the rennovations take shape. You want to soak in a long hot bath after reading several pages.

You shop side by side with her at the market, smelling, hearing, touching and tasting all that Italy has to offer.

At her table you do not feel compelled to go to the fridge for a snack, but feel completely stuffed, like you have really eaten the meals she has described.

What a wonderful place to lose your self, but Under the Tuscan Sun.

Romantic traveler.......2000-06-14

The two books in this set can be read independently of one another, but read together provide a rich tapestry of the author's romance with Tuscany, and the author's major life change adventure embracing the future as she embraces her Italian home. One need not necessarily be a Tuscan scholar, or a Tuscan devotee, or even a Tuscan traveler to enjoy the colorful and appetizing narrative centered around the author's purchase and initial rehabilitation (in Under The Tuscan Sun) of a once-graceful long-abandoned farmhouse in the Tuscan hills. The plans and projects she and her husband make for resurrection of the once-lovely old building on ancient footings in forgotten gardens strike yearning chords in every fantasy spinner's heart. The project unfolds in some successes and some failures as we also see the author's resurrection of buried dreams in her own life similarly unfold. The metamorphosis becomes much more concrete, much more focused and visible, like the author's struggle to learn Italian, in the second book of the set, Bella Tuscany, in which she includes more of her inner life and more interaction with her Italian neighbors, even tucking some favorite recipes into various chapters as they become better acquainted. Her travels through Tuscany in search of fixtures, furnishings, towels, tiles and dishes become charming tours of Italy on and off the beaten track, and a way of life which seems to open the heart and coax the spirit forth. These two passionate journals resonate in those places where each of us still muses about finding our dream - or dreamhouse - someday, whether an Italophile or not. The books lack much hard economic analysis or any real social or political feeling for Tuscany; they document a continuing personal journey. Great reading to encourage the reader to reach for the adventure and find herself.

Average customer rating:

...adrift in the pond
not to be missed
A True Tale from the South
too dark
A Fine Southern Novel

Swan
Frances Mayes
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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A Year in the World: Journeys of A Passionate Traveller
Bella Tuscany: The Sweet Life in Italy
In Tuscany
Under the Tuscan Sun
Bringing Tuscany Home: Sensuous Style From the Heart of Italy

ASIN: 0767902866
Release Date: 2003-08-26

Amazon.com

It seems like there's a law that every novel set below the Mason-Dixon Line must feature a family secret, a beautiful dead mother, and a contested paternity. Also, iced tea. Swan, the debut novel from memoirist Frances Mayes (Under the Tuscan Sun, Bella Tuscany), is pretty standard stuff. J.J. Mason lives like a hermit in the woods outside the town of Swan, Georgia; his sister Ginger Mason works as an archaeologist in Italy. Their family has been in Swan forever; the whole town mourned when Caroline, Ginger, and J.J.'s mother committed suicide. Now the town joins in shock when Caroline's body is mysteriously and crudely exhumed. Ginger returns from Italy; J.J. comes into town. Over the course of a week in July 1975, and against a backdrop of townspeople, relatives, gossipy old biddies, and mill workers, the siblings explore the dark history of their mother's death. The book is competently done, and Mayes is clearly enjoying her break from the Tuscan sun--she especially seems to enjoy folksy-yet-Gothic Southernisms: "Who'd ever think someone that pretty could up and die? ... Just goes to show how quick it is from can to can't." Despite the book's grisly grave-digging, though, Mayes unearths nothing new. --Claire Dederer

Book Description

By the #1 bestselling author of Under the Tuscan Sun, Bella Tuscany and In Tuscany, Swan is a haunting novel set in the deep South -- a resonant tale of long-buried family secrets and mysteries brought suddenly to light.

In her celebrated memoirs of life in Tuscany, Frances Mayes writes masterfully about people in a powerful and shaping place. In Swan, her first novel, she has created an equally intimate world, rich with striking characters and intriguing twists of fate, that hearkens back to her southern roots.

The Masons are a prominent but now fragmented family who have lived for generations in Swan, an edenic, hidebound small town in Georgia. As Swan opens, a bizarre crime pulls Ginger Mason home from her life as an archeologist in Italy: The body of her mother, Catherine, a suicide nineteen years before, has been mysteriously exhumed. Reunited on new terms with her troubled, isolated brother J.J., who has never ventured far from Swan, the Mason children grapple with the profound effects of their mother's life and death on their own lives. When a new explanation for Catherine’s death emerges, and other closely guarded family secrets rise to the surface as well, Ginger and J.J. are confronted with startling truths about their family, a particular ordeal in a family and a town that wants to keep the past buried.

Beautifully evoking the rhythms and idiosyncrasies of the deep South while telling an utterly compelling story of the complexity of family ties, Swan marks the remarkable fiction debut of one of America’s best-loved writers.

From the Hardcover edition.

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By the #1 bestselling author of Under the Tuscan Sun, Bella Tuscany and In Tuscany, Swan is a haunting novel set in the deep South -- a resonant tale of long-buried family secrets and mysteries brought suddenly to light. In her celebrated memoirs of life in Tuscany, Frances Mayes writes masterfully about people in a powerful and shaping place. In Swan, her first novel, she has created an equally intimate world, rich with striking characters and intriguing twists of fate, that hearkens back to her southern roots. The Masons are a prominent but now fragmented family who have lived for generations in Swan, an edenic, hidebound small town in Georgia. As Swan opens, a bizarre crime pulls Ginger Mason home from her life as an archeologist in Italy: The body of her mother, Catherine, a suicide nineteen years before, has been mysteriously exhumed. Reunited on new terms with her troubled, isolated brother J.J., who has never ventured far from Swan, the Mason children grapple with the profound effects of their mother's life and death on their own lives. When a new explanation for Catherine¿s death emerges, and other closely guarded family secrets rise to the surface as well, Ginger and J.J. are confronted with startling truths about their family, a particular ordeal in a family and a town that wants to keep the past buried. Beautifully evoking the rhythms and idiosyncrasies of the deep South while telling an utterly compelling story of the complexity of family ties, Swan marks the remarkable fiction debut of one of America¿s best-loved writers.

Customer Reviews:

...adrift in the pond.......2005-07-03

This book left the reader with too many loose ends. There were many mysteries in the story... and too many left unsolved. Yes, it would make for good discussions, but left the individual reader adrift and without any closure.

not to be missed.......2004-07-11

Mayes' writing is utterly beautiful. If you love language as only a poet can deliver, well-drawn characters you're unlikely to forget, and a story that pulls you in from the very beginning, don't miss this lovely, haunting novel.

A True Tale from the South.......2004-01-11

Being a daughter of the South myself, I can honestly say the characters in this book are uniquely southern. I was constantly going, yes, I know that place -- I pass that on my way home -- I have a friend from there, etc. She did a perfect job in her characterization, and her sense of place is phenomenal. The story itself was very easy to read mostly because it pulled you in and made you interested in what became of these people. The plot was interesting and had enough twists to keep you coming back for more. One thing I loved was Mayes' ability to surprise. I would be reading along, engrossed in the story, when suddenly I would have to back up and reread a portion (usually at the end of a chapter) because what I read couldn't possibly be what she wrote. And yet it always was -- interesting bits about the characters that just got slipped in. Altogether, I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting a good read.

too dark.......2003-09-16

this book is a downer from the get-go. so depressing. loved under the tuscan sun so tried this one. don't waste your time/

A Fine Southern Novel.......2003-03-07

I finished Swan yesterday and her characters are with me still- for me a sure sign of a good novel. The Discovery of Poetry by Frances Mayes is one of my very favorite books. I was interested in how her novel would be. The settings are wonderfully described, brought alive and as I have already indicated, the characters appealing and engrossing. Good read !!

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