Italian Days

The first two-thirds of this book is a superb travel guide to Milan, Venice, Rome, and Campania. Barbara Grizzuti Harrison is very conversant with the best travel literature of the past (and thoughtfully provides us a useful bibliography) and -- more rare by far -- has a great deal to add as an Italian-American confronting the land of her birth.After her chapter on Naples and Campania, the book takes an entirely different tack. The author goes to visit what remains of her family in rural Molise and Calabria. Big mistake. You can't mix pleasure with unfinished family business and expect to get anything other than heartsick. I remember taking a visit to Hungary and Slovakia to visit my relatives some years ago. Their reaction: Why haven't you visited us before? Why aren't you staying longer? When are you coming back? Let us introduce you to your third and fourth cousins! It was interesting, at times even exhilarating, but it was no vacation. And you need a vacation from your vacation when you return.Although Harrison's family visits break her book in two, it conveys a sense of truth missing from most books of the sort -- especially of the nefarious Tuscan villa genre. Our ancestors left their homes for a reason. They may not tell you the reason; but those left behind nursing their grudges will gladly set you straight -- possibly to your intense discomfiture.So in the end, I have nothing but praise for this book. Especially if you are an Italian-American going back to the "Old Country" for a first visit, you must read this book. Like the author, take your vacation first -- then go face the music with your relatives.

I've been carrying ITALIAN DAYS by Barbara Grizzuti Harrison in my backpack to work--reading it on the train and over lunch. I think you'd better be eating a meal or at least not in a state of hunger when you read this book or you will lose your mind. Harrison is of Italian descent, her maiden name is Grizzuti, and although she grew up in New York, her family hails from the south of Italy. The composition of this book is similar to that of Henry James' ITALIAN HOURS -- a composite of many trips, although the organizing priciple for Harrison's book is her current journey south for homecoming of sorts. She is a native American, but is connected to Italian relatives. I found her writing very reminiscent of M.F.K. Fisher, part observer, part philospher, part historian, part wanderer. Harrison is divorced, and has a older child who is not traveling with her. She appears to be in her mid-forties, is attractive enough to be told so and "hit on" by some of the Italian males around her. She has a few interesting women friends who drift in and out of her stories. These women are coping with boyfriends and husbands and as they share their various woes Harrison recounts a few of her own.Her writing is so warm and wonderful I felt as if I was inhabiting her body as I read. Unfortunately, as I read, I would be eating a chicken salad sandwich from the cafeteria at my desk while she was having a delectible meal of angel hair spagetti, baby asparagus, feta cheese and warm olives, served with a lovely local red wine, at an outdoor table on the cobblestones of a plaza before 12th century church in the warm Italian sun. Harrison is a devout Roman Catholic, she attends masses and lights candle for loved ones. She visits churches and describes them in detail. She writes of the history of the church, WWII, the Romans, and other major forces in the development of Italy. She is cognizant of the "death in the midst of life" and the three great mysteries of life: childhood, love, and death. "As I am so shall you be, as you are now I once was." She observes people and describes them. She visits the graves of Shelley and other writers. She comments on the travels of Henry James and Ruskin whom she has read. She misquotes Byron. Consider ITALIAN DAYS as the diary your best friend kept about her journey home to visit the old country and see all the relatives, and then shared with you. I love it!!

"Italian Days" is a book for reflective readers--those who love to ponder beautiful language and beautiful things. It is as much a guide to the author, Barbara Grizzuti Harrison, as to Italy, and I gladly could have continued my journey with her for another thousand pages. I made my first trip to Italy this past autumn, and although I knew and loved the book before I left, I was amazed at how accurately she captured the look, smell, feel--and taste (she writes mouth-wateringly of her Italian meals) of the country. I gave this book as a gift this year, and I certainly will do so again.

This finely crafted book bespeaks a visceral love of Italy and things Italian that rises to true sublimity. Using the Italian human and cultural landscape as a springboard for lyrical meditations on the beauties, pleasures, and sorrows of life, Ms. Harrison takes her rightful place among writers like Henry James, Stendhal, Goethe, and Barzini, who have all celebrated the quintessential humanitas of Italy. If you have any feeling for the arts at all, don't deny yourself the experience of reading this magnificent book--and then get yourself to Italy! A literary and cultural tour de force.

Preparing for a trip to Italy last fall I purchased a number of books on the country -- mostly personal travelogues, essays, historical tomes. It was quite accidental that I picked up "Italian Days" and due to its sheer weight I can only surmise that my instincts told me to take the book home. Six months later I am back from Italy and just now reading Harrison's incredibly visual book -- it is like looking through my photographs and rereading my own journal. Harrison is the most sensual of writers approaching her subject with a woman's sensibility. The ruins of the Forum get no more attention than the flavors of gelatto near the Pantheon or rush of navigating the treacherous Roman streets. It is all true to the experience of Italy.I wonder how such a book could be out of print and what a disservice that is to readers. I treasure my copy even more and can only recommend that readers grab Harrison's latest "An Accidental Autobiography" while they can -- her writing is a necessary addition to anyone's library.