Free My Two Italies Ebooks To Download
A poignant personal account from a child of Calabrian peasants whose lifelong study of Italy unveils the mysteries of this Bel Paese, "Beautiful Land," where artistic genius and political corruption have gone hand in hand from the time of Michelangelo to The SopranosThe child of Italian immigrants and an award-winning scholar of Italian literature, in My Two Italies Joseph Luzzi straddles these two perspectives to link his family's dramatic story to Italy's north-south divide, its quest for a unifying language, and its passion for art, food, and family. From his Calabrian father's time as a military internee in Nazi Germany—where he had a love affair with a local Bavarian woman—to his adventures amid the Renaissance splendor of Florence, Luzzi creates a deeply personal portrait of Italy that leaps past facile clichés about Mafia madness and Tuscan sun therapy. He delves instead into why Italian Americans have such a complicated relationship with the "old country," and how Italy produces some of the world's most astonishing art while suffering from corruption, political fragmentation, and an enfeebled civil society. With topics ranging from the pervasive force of Dante's poetry to the meteoric rise of Silvio Berlusconi, Luzzi presents the Italians in all their glory and squalor, relating the problems that plague Italy today to the country's ancient roots. He shares how his "two Italies"—the earthy southern Italian world of his immigrant childhood and the refined "northern" Italian realm of his professional life—join and clash in unexpected ways that continue to enchant the many millions who are either connected to Italy by ancestry or bound to it by love.
File Size: 2551 KB
Print Length: 225 pages
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Reprint edition (July 15, 2014)
Publication Date: July 15, 2014
Sold by: Macmillan
Language: English
ASIN: B00HP1JZGM
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray: Not Enabled
Word Wise: Enabled
Lending: Not Enabled
Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Best Sellers Rank: #472,458 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store) #168 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > Europe > Italy #185 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > Europe > Italy #238 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Special Groups > Ethnic Studies
To my great delight My Two Italies is as good and fascinating as its premise. With much warmth and human feeling, Prof. Luzzi weaves two particular strands of Italy: the Grand Tour, Ruskin-in-hand, sprezzatura (genius) Italy and the hardscrabble, sun-scorched, Fourteen Years as Age of Consent south. His parents and older siblings were born in the mezzogiornio (midday sun south) - geographically of course the same country as the cultural trinity of Venice-Florence-Rome but somehow a universe away. When the parents escape to the States for a better economic future they are neither former Italians nor future Italian-Americans. Instead the parents remain steadfastly Calabrese.The good side of this would be the exquisite-sounding, pre-movement Slow Food meals. Their quotidian dinners today would be the cover story on a glossy food or travel magazine.The bad side, though, is a tough, old-school father who ostracized his daughter because she dared to want to move out and have her own place - at age 27.Given Prof. Luzzi's ancestry it seems to surprise even him that he develops such a passion for northern Italy art and literature. Yet he reminds the reader that there's a tremendous legacy of culture in the south as well; he describes a Naples museum in which he was the only visitor in a room filled with important works of art. Memories of scrimmaging through the Uffizi make the solitude alone sounds enormously appealing.On an early student trip to Florence he's taken aback when a northern girl says of his parents' region, "That's not Italy - that's Africa!" The (intended) putdown made me wonder what the father thought of African-Americans. Was he sympathetic to their plight as a fellow outsider, or did he believe that they should just work hard like he did and quit whining?
My Two Italies Two by Two: Tango, Two-Step, and the L.A. Night About Two Squares: A Suprematist Tale of Two Squares in Six Constructions Intermediate Classic Duets for Two Tubas: 22 Classical and Traditional pieces arranged especially for two equal tuba players of intermediate standard. Most are in easy keys. The Two Towers: Book Two in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir Lost in Translation Vol. 3: The Book of Revelation: Two Brides Two Destinies One Pan, Two Plates: Vegetarian Suppers: More than 70 Weeknight Meals for Two Slow Cooking for Two: A Slow Cooker Cookbook with 101 Slow Cooker Recipes Designed for Two People Healthy Cookbook for Two: 175 Simple, Delicious Recipes to Enjoy Cooking for Two One Pan, Two Plates: More Than 70 Complete Weeknight Meals for Two Two by Two Beautiful Music for Two String Instruments, Bk 2: 2 Violins (Two Violins) Easy Traditional Duets for Two Flutes: 28 traditional melodies from around the world arranged especially for two equal beginner flute players. All are in easy keys. Christmas Duets for Two Flutes: 21 Traditional Christmas Carols arranged for two equal flutes of intermediate standard Christmas Duets for Two Descant Recorders: 21 Traditional Christmas Carols arranged for two equal descant recorders Beautiful Music for Two String Instruments: Two Violas, Vol. 3 Spirituals for Two: 9 Vocal Duets on Traditional Spirituals for Concerts, Contests, Recitals, and Worship (For Two Series) Times Two: Two Women in Love and the Happy Family They Made Honor Bound & Two Alone: Honor Bound, Two Alone
