I am starting this new thread which will be featured at the top of the Italy forum as a place for us to write about guidebooks for Italy. I will use the information here to update the Italy Guidebooks List and the Italy Food Guidebooks List that I wrote for the website (written in 2002, updated recently).
Post the information for the book and your review of it. Anything posted here may end up on a page on slowtrav.com.
This thread is just for the reviews. Start a new thread to discuss any of the reviews. Thanks!
{ correcting error - thanks Ginger }
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Pauline,
I just purchased Carla Capalbo's book Food and Wine of Naples & Campania as we are returning to the Cilento area and also staying in Pompeii. She really has captured the essence of this region and I wish I had months to visit all the farms and resturants and wineries she mentions. I usually don't sclepp travel books with me but unless I have time to make a ton of notes I think this will be a good resource of us foodies to have along. I was sorry to see her book on Tuscan cuisine is no longer in print. If it was anything like this one, it's a great loss!
Posts: 423 | Location: York, Pennsylvania | Registered: 03 March 2005
I'm still sold on the Cadogan guides. It shows that the writers were required to live in the country that they were writing about and they have details totally missed by others. My agent friend loved her Michelin Green Guide. I sometimes think I am enslaved by it when we travel together.
An endless field, but that list is missing the grand-daddy of them all. In Italian mind you — but how much Italian do you have to have to read a guidebook?
TCI (Touring Club Italiano): two sets, a thin oblong leatherette-bound green one, pretty much worthless; the red set is the one you want, covering Italy in 23 volumes. Each of them fits in a purse: the very fine print is how they cram in the immense amount of information: Tuscany for example runs 990 pages plus 50 town maps; and that doesn't include Florence, which is covered by its own volume, about the same size. No other guidebook covers Italy as well.
I just bought TCI's Naples. On the back is a note that it's part of the "heritage collection" of 11 books. Not sure if it's of the set Bill is referring to but likewise tons of info, maps, just enough pictures to inspire and data stretches down the coast to include Paestum and parts of Cilento
Posts: 423 | Location: York, Pennsylvania | Registered: 03 March 2005
TCI (Touring Club Italiano): two sets, a thin oblong leatherette-bound green one, pretty much worthless; the red set is the one you want, covering Italy in 23 volumes. Each of them fits in a purse: the very fine print is how they cram in the immense amount of information: Tuscany for example runs 990 pages plus 50 town maps; and that doesn't include Florence, which is covered by its own volume, about the same size. No other guidebook covers Italy as well.
Bill, Do you tend to buy them for the TCI site or from Amazon, or...?
I have umpteen guide books of Italy, have found Rick Steves' Italyand Italy for Dummiesthe most useful for fundamental information: museum reservations, overview of city or area, getting to & from, lodging recommendations, etc.
Others that are good are as follows:
Irreverent Guide to Rome Hello Italy! Best Budget Hotels in Italy(Margo Classe') National Geographic Traveler Italy- Good color photos and area maps Fodor's Exploring Italy- more photos and maps Charming Small Hotel Guides - Italy
I try to avoid unnecessary complications and expense; so I buy things like that in Italy. Of course now I carry them over. I've been coasting by on two guidebooks per region so far: the TCI and the DeAgostini; but Umbria at least I now know as well as (read: better than) the writers of the latter — whom I've caught out quite a few times in statements that show plainly they haven't always been to the places they describe. The TCI though is still my gold standard, no mistakes of that kind; although very occasionally an omission: the worst one yet was (in my 1978 edition, maybe now repaired) one of the comuni of Umbria, Allerona; the other 91 are there.
Specialized guidebooks (Roman roads and stuff) I try desperately not to lug over there and back; but what's one to do? Essere turista e un duro mestiere, more akin to a beast of burden at times.
For Umbria the absolute pinnacle, by the way, is the "Manuali per il territorio" series, or at least what got published of them. 16 were planned, only 4 were actually published before the series folded. I have the Spoleto volume (650pp), which covers the Spoletino rather than just the town; I saw another volume, asking price 100€: too steep for me, but they're understandably sought after.
Originally posted by CaWino: I have umpteen guide books of Italy, have found Rick Steves' Italyand Italy for Dummiesthe most useful for fundamental information: museum reservations, overview of city or area, getting to & from, lodging recommendations, etc.
The problem with RS is that he only tells you about places where his tour goes. If they don't go there, it just doesn't exist! Yes, some of his info is great, but often I like to visit places that won't be full of everyone else with their RS book in hand!
Barb (and Art)- You are so right on that flaw. We had planned to visit Bologna last year and there was nothing in his book about that location. I think that underscores the need for several books to cover everything.
I still take my 'Rough Guide to Venice' with me every time I go, and am very impressed by the wealth of information provided in it, on just about everything I need to know, from history to art galleries to where best to eat.Also has a handy (waterproof) map.
Jabrex
Jabrex
Posts: 181 | Location: Surrey, UK | Registered: 14 January 2007
Cafe Life Florence Cafe Life Rome Written by Joe Wolff
I know that I've mentioned these before, somewhere on this site. In planning time in Florence, we bought one of these. We enjoyed it so much that we bought it's partner re: Rome. These are great fun to read- not just about coffee and gelato. They are full of stories about the people & their families, the histories of the neighborhoods and the city itself, the histories of these small artisanal businesses over the years and of course details about their products. It is a loving tribute to the dedication of these people to an authentic product. We will jot down some of these places and be sure to visit. Linda
Posts: 582 | Location: Outlying area of Chicago | Registered: 15 September 2004
Originally posted by SL Jones: Cafe Life Florence Cafe Life Rome Written by Joe Wolff
Linda
Just a curiosity, why do you think Cafe is spelt like that in the title, when the word for it in Italian is Caffe? Do you think it was his editor, wanting to make it look "correct" to a US audience?
Red Red Wine- That is an excellent question. I have no idea why the spelling CAFE. Now that I've noticed, I view it as a flaw, as it goes against the spirit of what the book attempts to do. Linda
Posts: 582 | Location: Outlying area of Chicago | Registered: 15 September 2004
Originally posted by SL Jones: Red Red Wine- That is an excellent question. I have no idea why the spelling CAFE. Now that I've noticed, I view it as a flaw, as it goes against the spirit of what the book attempts to do. Linda
I guess it's my pet peeve but I get tired of people purporting to be experts about some aspect of Italy and then mis-spelling or mis-pronouncing basic Italian words. But I wanted to give the benefit of the doubt that maybe his editor wanted to spell Cafe that way. Personally if it was my book, I would have tried my utmost to have the Italian spelling on there. I know that sometimes "unknown" authors have to succumb to what the publisher wants. But if it was the publisher's decision, it was a silly one. I mean if the book is saying "we're experts on this stuff, so read us" then they should show their expertise through correct use of Italian, as well as by other means.
I find mistakes quite a bit in books about Italy, or articles about Italy. I often find myself thinking: "they should hire me to be a fact checker and an Italian word checker"!! (How do I get myself billed as such to publishers? )
On the other hand, I realize that sometimes, particularly in a larger more complex book, small errors might go un-caught. But I think in the title of this book, it's a bit glaring. Maybe they're just trying to make the whole title "in English" although of course Cafe is a French word. I personally would have called it something along the lines of: "The delights of the Florentine Caffe" so that you don't have pluralize the word which makes it messy because then you're using a French or Italian word but adding the English "s" to make it plural, which just gets messy in my opinion. Additionally with this alternate title, you can show that it's an Italian word, by the way it goes with the word "Florentine".
I brought along The Companion Guide to Romeby Georgina Masson and John Fort and found it to be very useful. I used it every day to plan out walking trips, and though I didn't really follow her trips exactly, they gave me good guidelines. I also brought Rome from the Ground UpbyJames H.S. McGregor, but didn't use it as much. I found it hard to read and the organization and lack of topical headings were annoying. The Masson book was light and compact enough to stick in my purse to carry with me, while the McGregor book was heavy and dense. It invariably got left back in the apartment.
I find the Rough Guide books to be quite informative, if occasionally (and a bit annoyingly) opinionated. My girlfriend has one that covers Florence and Siena, and since I'd been to both cities prior to perusing her book, it was interesting to read their coverage.
The two Cadogan guides I've read (Venice and Rome) were also good reads and quite informative.
I agree that Rick Steves' guides are mainly helpful in terms of useful, necessary info on day-to-day stuff and practicalities, like how to get tickets in advance, what to expect in terms of public transport in different areas, and a slew of other issues that can be daunting to the novice traveler. He covers a few things I had to find out the hard way! For these details, his books are a goldmine.
However, for many of the reasons stated above, his books can be flawed, and they do overlook some pretty essential stuff. His books also seem to be designed with the whirlwind traveler in mind, you know, the people who don't spend more than a day or two in each city. I can't relate to that kind of traveling AT ALL, but at least Steves does periodically remind the whirlwind traveler to "chill out" with a gelato or some wine for a bit now and then.
Just a little comment on the "caffe" discussion...I noticed that the title says "Florence", not Firenze, and Rome, not Roma. Is cafe the English word for (the Italian) caffe? If that's the case, I think the author was correct in sticking to one language in his title...
Posts: 135 | Location: Coconut Grove, Florida | Registered: 16 June 2006
)