Seasons in Basilicata

I found this book to be insightful and illustrative. Clearly this is an unusual book. It is like a combination travelogue, novel and diary. I almost gave up on it early on due to what seemed irrelevant ramblings of the author but I am very glad I stuck it out because it improves as you move through it. Reading this book gave me a much clearer sense of my ancestral roots: my grandfather, like so many others, came to America from this region of Italy and unfortunately he died before I met him. So this book gave me a window to his past and I am grateful to the author for this. Yeadon provides colorful illustrations of the people, customs, beliefs, lifestyle and landscape of Basilicata, using words as his paintbrush. Of course next on my list is Carlo Levi's "Christ Stopped at Eboli." Perhaps reading Levi's book before this one would have been useful but at least now I know the meaning of Levi's title. I highly recommend this book to the hundreds of thousands of first-, second-, and third-generation Italian-Americans whose ancestors left Basilicata to make a life here in America. I have had difficulty finding many English-language books about Basilicata and it was exciting to find this one. Suggestions in this regard would be welcome - leave me a comment reply to this review if you know of other relevant books...

Thanks to a previous reviewer, after checking this book out of the library I decided that I'd better read "Christ Stopped at Eboli" first. The books, read together, make for a wonderful literary experience. "Christ Stopped at Eboli" is really a masterpiece, and after finishing it, I was even more interested in reading "Seasons in Basilicata" and finding out more about this fascinating part of Italy. Having read a number of travel books in the last year, I would rank this book in the top third. I like the fact that Yeadon spent almost an entire year in this one little town; in some books (like "Under the Tuscan Sun"), the author makes twice-yearly visits to an area -- I don't think it's possible to really capture the "flavor" of a place under these circumstances. Also, Yeadon has a good sense of humor, and there were many places in the book where I simply laughed out loud. While the food of the area was certainly described with relish, it wasn't overemphasized. Yeadon has lots to say about lots of things -- and I came away from the book with a much better understanding of the history, architecture, economy, and atmosphere of the area. Yeadon clearly has a gregarious, extroverted personality which shines through the pages -- he got to know a lot of natives on what seemed to be a more than superficial level. When Yeadon's year in Basilicata was over, the sense of poignancy and sadness at leaving was palpable.

David Yeadon has done a great service in his excellent narrative of a year spent in the remote and little known region of Basilicata. He initally is interested in the town of Aliano where the anti-fascist writer Carlo Levi was exiled in 1935. There he and his wife spend a year getting to know the region and its people. I would recommend reading Carlo Levi's Christ Stopped at Eboli before reading Seasons in Basilicata. I would also recommend the film of the same title based on Levi's work. The only small criticism I would make is that there could have been more careful editing. There are some instances of misuse of Italian words: such as using "padronale" as a noun--it is an adjective relating to a "padrone" or boss in all senses of the word. There was also an instance where he gives the equivalent of fifteen million lire as seventy-five-thousand dollars: it was actually less than ten-thousand dollars. But, considering the work as a whole, these are minor. Thanks to David Yeadon for exposing this hidden corner of Italy. The reader will find a place far different from the Italy on the tourist trails--and he or she will be richer for it.

Read this book. You won't be disappointed. Although its initial appeal for me was the connection to Carlo Levi's, "Christ Stopped at Eboli," I was enchanted by Yeadon's narrative of daily life in a small town in the Mezzogiorno. I am a little tired of the mania for Northern Italy and have been seeking to experience the "other Italy." After all, it was the southerners who migrated to America in vast numbers and it is their legacy that has thrived and enriched the culture of the United States. If you enjoy this, read Paul Paolicelli's "Under the Southern Sun." Both of these books are a feast. Buon appetito!