{"product_id":"italian-neighbors-9780802140340","title":"Italian Neighbors","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Notable Book of the Year: A deliciously entertaining account of expatriate life in a small village just outside Verona, Italy.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTim Parks is anything but a gentleman in Verona. So after ten years of living with his Italian wife, Rita, in a typical provincial Italian neighborhood, the novelist found that he had inadvertently collected a gallery full of splendid characters. In this wittily observed account, Parks introduces readers to his home town, with a statue of the Virgin at one end of the street, a derelict bottle factory at the other, and a wealth of exotic flora and fauna in between.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eVia Colombare, the village's main street, offers an exemplary hodgepodge of all that is new and old in the bel paese, a point of collision between invading suburbia and diehard peasant tradition. It is a world of creeping vines, stuccoed walls, shotguns, security cameras, hypochondria, and expensive sports cars. More than a mere travelogue, \u003ci\u003eItalian Neighbors\u003c\/i\u003e is a vivid portrait of the real Italy and a compelling story of how even the most foreign people and places gradually assume the familiarity of home.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"One of the most delightful travelogues imaginable . . . so vivid, so packed with delectable details.\" —\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n","brand":"Tim Parks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42956000428150,"sku":"9780802140340","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0671\/1374\/6550\/files\/CoreSourceHub_f612002e-0d98-402f-b841-8d665c5c73f2.jpg?v=1779571564","url":"https:\/\/ingramacademic.com\/products\/italian-neighbors-9780802140340","provider":"Ingram Academic \u0026 Professional","version":"1.0","type":"link"}