The Dark Heart of Italy

An Incisive Portrait of Europe's Most Beautiful, Most Disconcerting Country

Nonfiction, Travel, Europe, Italy
Cover of the book The Dark Heart of Italy by Tobias Jones, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Tobias Jones ISBN: 9781466804517
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publication: May 19, 2005
Imprint: North Point Press Language: English
Author: Tobias Jones
ISBN: 9781466804517
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication: May 19, 2005
Imprint: North Point Press
Language: English

In 1999 Tobias Jones immigrated to Italy, expecting to discover the pastoral bliss described by centuries of foreign visitors. Instead, he found a very different country: one besieged by unfathomable terrorism and deep-seated paranoia. The Dark Heart of Italy is Jones's account of his four-year voyage across the Italian peninsula.

Jones writes not just about Italy's art, climate, and cuisine but also about the much livelier and stranger sides of the Bel Paese: the language, soccer, Catholicism, cinema, television, and terrorism. Why, he wonders, does the parliament need a "slaughter commission"? Why do bombs still explode every time politics start getting serious? Why does everyone urge him to go home as soon as possible, saying that Italy is a "brothel"? Most of all, why does one man, Silvio Berlusconi--in the words of a famous song--appear to own everything from Padre Nostro (Our Father) to Cosa Nostra (the Mafia)?

The Italy that emerges from Jones's travels is a country scarred by civil wars and "illustrious corpses"; a country that is proudly visual rather than verbal, based on aesthetics rather than ethics; a country where crime is hardly ever followed by punishment; a place of incredible illusionism, where it is impossible to distinguish fantasy from reality and fact from fiction.

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

In 1999 Tobias Jones immigrated to Italy, expecting to discover the pastoral bliss described by centuries of foreign visitors. Instead, he found a very different country: one besieged by unfathomable terrorism and deep-seated paranoia. The Dark Heart of Italy is Jones's account of his four-year voyage across the Italian peninsula.

Jones writes not just about Italy's art, climate, and cuisine but also about the much livelier and stranger sides of the Bel Paese: the language, soccer, Catholicism, cinema, television, and terrorism. Why, he wonders, does the parliament need a "slaughter commission"? Why do bombs still explode every time politics start getting serious? Why does everyone urge him to go home as soon as possible, saying that Italy is a "brothel"? Most of all, why does one man, Silvio Berlusconi--in the words of a famous song--appear to own everything from Padre Nostro (Our Father) to Cosa Nostra (the Mafia)?

The Italy that emerges from Jones's travels is a country scarred by civil wars and "illustrious corpses"; a country that is proudly visual rather than verbal, based on aesthetics rather than ethics; a country where crime is hardly ever followed by punishment; a place of incredible illusionism, where it is impossible to distinguish fantasy from reality and fact from fiction.

More books from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Cover of the book Uncanny Valley by Tobias Jones
Cover of the book Charming Billy by Tobias Jones
Cover of the book What Darwin Got Wrong by Tobias Jones
Cover of the book Cody Harmon, King of Pets by Tobias Jones
Cover of the book The Noodle Maker by Tobias Jones
Cover of the book The Boxer Rebellion and the Great Game in China by Tobias Jones
Cover of the book The Crime and the Silence by Tobias Jones
Cover of the book The Accidental Connoisseur by Tobias Jones
Cover of the book Cool by Tobias Jones
Cover of the book The Escape from Furnace Series by Tobias Jones
Cover of the book Herbert Rowbarge by Tobias Jones
Cover of the book The Neighborhood by Tobias Jones
Cover of the book Time's Memory by Tobias Jones
Cover of the book Malcolm X by Tobias Jones
Cover of the book One Square Inch by Tobias Jones
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