The Italians

The Italians

2015 • 338 pages

Ratings2

Average rating4

15

Washington Post bestseller Los Angeles Times bestseller A vivid and surprising portrait of the Italian people from an admired foreign correspondent How did a nation that spawned the Renaissance also produce the Mafia? And why does Italian have twelve words for coat hanger but none for hangover? John Hooper’s entertaining and perceptive new book is the ideal companion for anyone seeking to understand contemporary Italy and the unique character of the Italians. Fifteen years as a foreign correspondent based in Rome have sharpened Hooper’s observations, and he looks at the facts that lie behind the stereotypes, shedding new light on everything from the Italians’ bewildering politics to their love of life and beauty. Hooper persuasively demonstrates the impact of geography, history, and tradition on many aspects of Italian life, including football and Freemasonry, sex, food, and opera. Brimming with the kind of fascinating—and often hilarious—insights unavailable in guidebooks, The Italians will surprise even the most die-hard Italophile.

Tags

Genre


Become a Librarian

Reviews

Popular Reviews

Reviews with the most likes.

June 29, 2023

Top Lists

See all (3)

List

69 books

Italy

Flirting in Italian
Four Seasons in Rome
Death in Venice
A Thousand Days in Venice
Lost Hearts in Italy
Valley in Italy, A
Keeping the Feast: One Couple's Story of Love, Food, and Healing in Italy

List

1,039 books

Nonfiction

Barefoot Books World Atlas Sticker Book
Carlos Santana: Sound of the Heart, Song of the World
Sinister Savannah
Deadly Spider Bite!
The Whaleship Essex: The True Story of Moby Dick
Skulls!
Half-Earth

List

183 books

History

A Year in Paris: Season by Season in the City of Light
The Train to Crystal City
Bubonic Panic: When Plague Invaded America
Diana's White House Garden
The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey
The Wright Brothers
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania