The Reluctant Tuscan

. . . you'll enjoy this honest and wry account of buying a fixer-upper in Italy against one's wishes, and the year spent negotiating unreliable neighbors, obscure regulations, and lovable community habits. Very enjoyable.

Perhaps it's because reading this book brought back so many memories for me, but for my money, this is the best book by an author I didn't previously know, that I've read in five years. I spent two years living all over northern Italy--all the way from the Slovenian (then Yugoslavian) border town of Gorizia to the Italian Riviera (La Spezia and San Remo), with a seven month stopover in Tuscany--Florence and Siena. Doran gets the Italians, and he gets them right, all the way from their maddening buearacracy (sp), which make any American buearacracy look sensible in comparison, to their split personality about religion and sex--the walls covered with nudie pin ups and pictures of Christ. Underlying all of this in the end, is a love affair with loveable people. People who are loud, and quick to take offense, and equally willing to forgive. Doran has a breezy comic style, honed by many years of working on some of Hollywood's best sitcoms--and some not so great. I can tell you from my own experience, in most cases, he's underplaying things. Reading this made me homesick. Read this and enjoy.

"Reluctant" and "Tuscan" are two words that might seem contradictory. After all, who wouldn't seize the chance to live in the celebrated Italian region famous for its vineyards, lush scenery, and charming villages? Well, Phil Doran, for one. Doran's reluctant Tuscan odyssey begins with a phone call from his wife, Nancy, an artist who travels frequently to Italy. "I bought a house," she tells him as he sits in his office in their home in Los Angeles. A television scriptwriter, Doran has no intention of leaving Hollywood behind for life in the rural Italian village of Cambione. But he's no match for Nancy, who is determined to save her husband from his high-stress, workaholic lifestyle. In his fifties, he's viewed by the entertainment industry as "a relic from another age," yet he can't seem to let go of the job that has defined him for twenty-five years. Doran heads to Tuscany where he finds more drama than anything he could have conjured up for the screen. The 300-year-old farmhouse he now owns is ramshackle at best, a true fixer-upper that needs extensive structural work and has neither an address nor a road leading to it. The previous owners have decided they want to reclaim the house, and they try all manner of ways to get the Dorans to sell it back, including fixing them with the "evil eye." And the whole town, it seems, knows about their plight and has an opinion to offer. Finally, after navigating endless layers of bureaucratic red tape, renovations on the house finally begin --- bringing with it a whole new set of challenges. Part memoir and part travel narrative, THE RELUCTANT TUSCAN is about a quest to restore a house. But it's also about Doran's journey to restore his life and reconnect in his marriage. For armchair travelers, though, there is no shortage of exquisite descriptions of Tuscany --- an open-air concert in a hill town outside Florence, an olive harvest, and "some of the most serenely beautiful wine country in all of Chianti," where "tall, spindly cypress trees swayed in the wind, and from everywhere at once came the smell of sun-warmed earth and budding Sangiovese grapes." A cast of colorful characters includes the witty, charming, and no-nonsense Nancy, who is nicknamed Rompicoglione for her persistence in getting things done (the verb rompere means "to break" and coglione is slang for testicles); Annamaria, a neighbor who gives them a baby goat as a housewarming present; Dino, their temporary landlord with a boisterous extended family and a wayward son; and Horn Dog, a lusty canine who more than earns his moniker. THE RELUCTANT TUSCAN is laugh-out-loud funny. Whether it's learning the language, buying a car, compiling a list of "Ten Things I Hate About Tuscany," or trying to glean insight into the Italian way of life, Doran's powers of observation are trumped only by his ability to convey what he sees and experiences with clarity and humor. Pour a glass of Chianti and savor this intoxicating tale. You might not find y

Screenwriter Phil Duran's first book The Reluctant Tuscan is a laugh-out loud tale of a mid-life crisis unfolding in the Italian countryside. His style is a sort of Erma Bombeck meets Woody Allen although there is an underlying love story between a husband and wife struggling to survive the pressures of a Hollywood marriage. We (you) feel as though we are eavesdropping on Phil's thoughts as he relates with total candor the absurdities of living as a cultural misfit in a country he both loves and hates. But there is a sweet side to Phil underneath the cynicism that gives this book an authenticity devoid of contrivance. Quite simply this is one very funny book and a rare gift for the summer reader.

I am a reader who usually takes 5 weeks or more to get through a book. Once I started The Reluctant Tuscan I could not put it down. I had it finished in 2 days!! The author's humor and experiences made this book one to tell everyone about. Anyone who has ever done any type of home remodeling will connect with the author's journey and be able to laugh about events that at a previous time would have had you in a different frame of mind. I can not stress enough DON'T PASS THIS ONE BY. If they had 10 stars that's where I would have rated it.

Phil Doran's dry humor is evident in this light-hearted romp under the Tuscan sun. The story sounds predictable with an American writer escaping to Italy impulsively buying a fixer-upper in the country. Sounds familiar? Sounds like the plot for Under the Tuscan Sun, only this version is from a man who has the knack for comedy. Doran is the writer and producer of the tv hit Wonder Years. The Reluctant Tuscan has the feel of Peter Mayle's travel diaries but with more story than diary. Would be great for a light summer read.