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    A Thousand Days in Tuscany: A Bittersweet Adventure
    Unavailable
    A Thousand Days in Tuscany: A Bittersweet Adventure
    Unavailable
    A Thousand Days in Tuscany: A Bittersweet Adventure
    Ebook283 pages5 hours

    A Thousand Days in Tuscany: A Bittersweet Adventure

    By Marlena de Blasi

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    American chef and author of A Thousand Days in Venice moves to rural Tuscany, where she and her husband discover village secrets of food, life, and love.

    Searching for the rhythms of country living, American chef Marlena de Blasi and her Venetian husband, Fernando, move to a barely renovated former stable in Tuscany. They dwell among two hundred villagers, ancient olive groves, and hot Etruscan springs. In this patch of earth where Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio collide, there is much to feed de Blasi’s two passions—food and love. In A Thousand Days in Tuscany, de Blasi brings us along as she and Fernando harvest grapes, gather chestnuts, forage for wild mushrooms, and climb trees in the cold of December to pick olives, one by one.

    They befriend the mesmeric Barlozzo, a self-styled village chieftain whose stories lead de Blasi deeper into the soul of Tuscany. Together they visit sacred festivals and taste just-pressed olive oil, drizzled over roasted country bread. In a cauldron set over a wood fire, they braise beans in red wine, and a stew of wild boar simmers overnight in the ashes of their hearth. Barlozzo shares his knowledge of Italian farming traditions and ancient health potions, but he has secrets he doesn’t share, and one of them concerns the beautiful Floriana, whose illness teaches Marlena that happiness is truly a choice.

    Like the pleasurable tastes and textures of a fine meal, A Thousand Days in Tuscany is as satisfying as it is enticing. The author’s own recipes are included.

    Editor's Note

    The spirit of Italy...

    American chef de Blasi talks of olives & wine but her memoir is really about the ancient spirit of the Tuscan land & the villagers who’ve lived off its harvest.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateNov 1, 2004
    ISBN9781565125902
    Unavailable
    A Thousand Days in Tuscany: A Bittersweet Adventure

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    Reviews for A Thousand Days in Tuscany

    3.5/5

    117 ratings5 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I think at this point there must be a whole genre/category built up around people who chuck it all and move to either Italy or France, live in run-down, dilapidated houses, discover la dolce vita and then write books about it. I am their target market. This is a follow up to her previous book A Thousand Days in Venice which I have not read, and it works fine on its own. The writing is philosophical, sometimes overly so, and occasionally florid, but overall it's engrossing. There's a definite air of self-satisfaction that almost crosses over into smugness, but doesn't; the narrative isn't about the author finding her bliss - she's already done that - but more about her awareness of her bliss. It works better than it sounds like it should, although probably not as well as it could have. The subtitle of this book is A Bittersweet Adventure and it is rightly titled (although it's not a thousand days, but merely a year, so maybe not). I won't say more because I'd hate anyone considering this read to stumble on to this review and be spoiled. Not sorry to have read it at all, even if others have appealed to me more.
    • 2/5
      If you loved A Thousand Nights in Venice, do not read this book. The book is unbelievable and can not make up its mind if it is a cookbook, travel guide or novel.
    • 5/5
      A most excellent read. Heart warming stories. Wonderful recipes. I love her work.
    • 2/5
      I initially enjoyed this book for it's sheer indulgence, but the utopian descriptions of Tuscan life struck me as tedious and naive. I soon found myself wishing that something realistic and horrible would happen... I won't be finding it out, since I've shelved this one for the time being.
    • 2/5
      I am wont to romanticize aspects of my life too but the author certainly made an Olympic sport out of it. I think the story would be beautiful if only the author is not so self-centered and so hell-bent on portraying this perfect, beautiful Italian life. Even death doesn't feel real. This book feels like reading a strange dream.