Italian Ways: On and Off the Rails from Milan to Palermo

Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Transportation, Railroads, Travel, Europe, Italy, Adventure & Literary Travel
Cover of the book Italian Ways: On and Off the Rails from Milan to Palermo by Tim Parks, W. W. Norton & Company
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Tim Parks ISBN: 9780393240559
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Publication: June 10, 2013
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company Language: English
Author: Tim Parks
ISBN: 9780393240559
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Publication: June 10, 2013
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company
Language: English

The best-selling author of Italian Neighbors returns with a wry and revealing portrait of Italian life—by riding its trains.

Tim Parks’s books on Italy have been hailed as "so vivid, so packed with delectable details, [they] serve as a more than decent substitute for the real thing" (Los Angeles Times Book Review). Now, in his first Italian travelogue in a decade, he delivers a charming and funny portrait of Italian ways by riding its trains from Verona to Milan, Rome to Palermo, and right down to the heel of Italy.

Parks begins as any traveler might: "A train is a train is a train, isn’t it?" But soon he turns his novelist’s eye to the details, and as he journeys through majestic Milano Centrale station or on the newest high-speed rail line, he delivers a uniquely insightful portrait of Italy. Through memorable encounters with ordinary Italians—conductors and ticket collectors, priests and prostitutes, scholars and lovers, gypsies and immigrants—Parks captures what makes Italian life distinctive: an obsession with speed but an acceptance of slower, older ways; a blind eye toward brutal architecture amid grand monuments; and an undying love of a good argument and the perfect cappuccino.

Italian Ways also explores how trains helped build Italy and how their development reflects Italians’ sense of themselves from Garibaldi to Mussolini to Berlusconi and beyond. Most of all, Italian Ways is an entertaining attempt to capture the essence of modern Italy. As Parks writes, "To see the country by train is to consider the crux of the essential Italian dilemma: Is Italy part of the modern world, or not?"

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The best-selling author of Italian Neighbors returns with a wry and revealing portrait of Italian life—by riding its trains.

Tim Parks’s books on Italy have been hailed as "so vivid, so packed with delectable details, [they] serve as a more than decent substitute for the real thing" (Los Angeles Times Book Review). Now, in his first Italian travelogue in a decade, he delivers a charming and funny portrait of Italian ways by riding its trains from Verona to Milan, Rome to Palermo, and right down to the heel of Italy.

Parks begins as any traveler might: "A train is a train is a train, isn’t it?" But soon he turns his novelist’s eye to the details, and as he journeys through majestic Milano Centrale station or on the newest high-speed rail line, he delivers a uniquely insightful portrait of Italy. Through memorable encounters with ordinary Italians—conductors and ticket collectors, priests and prostitutes, scholars and lovers, gypsies and immigrants—Parks captures what makes Italian life distinctive: an obsession with speed but an acceptance of slower, older ways; a blind eye toward brutal architecture amid grand monuments; and an undying love of a good argument and the perfect cappuccino.

Italian Ways also explores how trains helped build Italy and how their development reflects Italians’ sense of themselves from Garibaldi to Mussolini to Berlusconi and beyond. Most of all, Italian Ways is an entertaining attempt to capture the essence of modern Italy. As Parks writes, "To see the country by train is to consider the crux of the essential Italian dilemma: Is Italy part of the modern world, or not?"

More books from W. W. Norton & Company

Cover of the book The Genuine Article: A Historian Looks at Early America by Tim Parks
Cover of the book EMDR Therapy and Somatic Psychology: Interventions to Enhance Embodiment in Trauma Treatment by Tim Parks
Cover of the book Climate Matters: Ethics in a Warming World (Norton Global Ethics Series) by Tim Parks
Cover of the book The Black House by Tim Parks
Cover of the book Inventing Wine: A New History of One of the World's Most Ancient Pleasures by Tim Parks
Cover of the book The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Short Stories: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (Non-slipcased edition) (Vol. 1) (The Annotated Books) by Tim Parks
Cover of the book How to Be a Better Child Therapist: An Integrative Model for Therapeutic Change by Tim Parks
Cover of the book Superconnect: Harnessing the Power of Networks and the Strength of Weak Links by Tim Parks
Cover of the book Dread: Poems by Tim Parks
Cover of the book Trauma and the Avoidant Client: Attachment-Based Strategies for Healing by Tim Parks
Cover of the book Difficult Mothers: Understanding and Overcoming Their Power by Tim Parks
Cover of the book The Mindful Therapist: A Clinician's Guide to Mindsight and Neural Integration by Tim Parks
Cover of the book A Labyrinth of Kingdoms: 10,000 Miles through Islamic Africa by Tim Parks
Cover of the book The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time by Tim Parks
Cover of the book Whereas: Poems by Tim Parks
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy