Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Description of Life in the Veneto Region
Review: After having lived in Vicenza for 5 years, this book brought back so many memories, good and bad of a country hard to describe. Tim Parks does an excellant job of describing the most minute detail from the haze during the summer down to the Carbinari Van blocking traffic while its occupants are in the local Pasticceria downing an expresso, cradling a semi-automatic and talking to a kid. Yes, Italy is absolutly unorganized, crazy and just plain impossible at times; however, there is a method to the madness. Just when you think you are ready to throw in the towel, the charm of this wonderful country twists at your heart strings and you remain...just like Tim Park. This is the first book that captures what it is truly like to live in the Veneto Region. It doesn't romanticize or condemn; Mr. Parks tells it how it is, with a sense of humor. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I highly recommended it to everyone who has lived there or plans to.
Rating:
Summary: VOSCC Book Club Selection Jan 1999
Review: After living in Italy for years, there are still some mysteries to the Italian Ways. Tim Parks brings incite and humour into our Italian lives.
Rating: 
Summary: Some merit, serious demerits: Italian Neighbors
Review: Although Tim Parks has produced an interesting account of life in Italy, Italian Neighbors has flaws that will make some readers very uncomfortable. Italian Neighbors contains vignettes of Parks' first year living in a small Italian town, with lots of descriptions of his neighbors and his surroundings. Parks does not provide many details about his life, but apparently he's a British expat married to an Italian, who lives or has lived near Verona. The crucial thing to remember while reading this book is that Parks is a novelist, not a travel writer or a journalist. This changes the way he portrays Italy. As an example, he tends to present his neighbors and friends as characters rather than as people; the difference is hard to quantify or explain, but it becomes obvious during reading. Those who actually live in Italy, or who merely have Italian friends, will probably be fairly shocked to see Italians portrayed as such quaint and odd little people - frankly, it sounds rather patronizing. However, I'm convinced it wasn't intended this way; I think Parks is simply viewing his world, and writing about it, the way a novelist must. Still, this presentation detracts heavily from a reality-based book. My most serious problem with the book, though, was the portrayal of animal mistreatment. I think Parks badly misunderstood his audience here. He's writing in English, and as a group, the natives of English-speaking countries tend to be among the most sensitive to animal cruelty and neglect. Depsite this, he cheerfully details the absolute miseries - and the wretched death - of his neighbor's maltreated dog, Vega. Worse yet, he devotes several pages to his plans to poison the poor animal. It's sickening, and Parks really harps on it, returning to the topic of Vega in a number of chapters. I wished very much while reading this book that Parks had been kinder to Vega. At the least, if he couldn't display any real caring or empathy, I wanted him to stop telling me about his callousness. He didn't. Dog lovers will probably not love this book. The book also has strengths. Parks is very good at capturing the essential nuttiness of the Italian bureaucracy, and tells several amusing anecdotes on that topic. The author also does a good job at describing an interloper's gradual acceptance into a small town, and he portrays several of the moments in this process - the first greeting, the first friendship - with great realism and feeling. These promising elements were enough to keep me, at least, reading to the end, but they weren't enough to make me love the book. Summary: Italian Neighbors, while an interesting perspective on small town Italy, falls short in enough areas that it probably will be truly enjoyable only to those who can never read enough about Italy (and who don't care much for dogs). But for many armchair travelers and expats, the book's merits will provide sufficient justification for a single reading of a library book. Borrow, don't buy.
Rating:
Summary: Some merit, serious demerits: Italian Neighbors
Review: Although Tim Parks has produced an interesting account of life in Italy, Italian Neighbors has flaws that will make some readers very uncomfortable. Italian Neighbors contains vignettes of Parks' first year living in a small Italian town, with lots of descriptions of his neighbors and his surroundings. Parks does not provide many details about his life, but apparently he's a British expat married to an Italian, who lives or has lived near Verona. The crucial thing to remember while reading this book is that Parks is a novelist, not a travel writer or a journalist. This changes the way he portrays Italy. As an example, he tends to present his neighbors and friends as characters rather than as people; the difference is hard to quantify or explain, but it becomes obvious during reading. Those who actually live in Italy, or who merely have Italian friends, will probably be fairly shocked to see Italians portrayed as such quaint and odd little people - frankly, it sounds rather patronizing. However, I'm convinced it wasn't intended this way; I think Parks is simply viewing his world, and writing about it, the way a novelist must. Still, this presentation detracts heavily from a reality-based book. My most serious problem with the book, though, was the portrayal of animal mistreatment. I think Parks badly misunderstood his audience here. He's writing in English, and as a group, the natives of English-speaking countries tend to be among the most sensitive to animal cruelty and neglect. Depsite this, he cheerfully details the absolute miseries - and the wretched death - of his neighbor's maltreated dog, Vega. Worse yet, he devotes several pages to his plans to poison the poor animal. It's sickening, and Parks really harps on it, returning to the topic of Vega in a number of chapters. I wished very much while reading this book that Parks had been kinder to Vega. At the least, if he couldn't display any real caring or empathy, I wanted him to stop telling me about his callousness. He didn't. Dog lovers will probably not love this book. The book also has strengths. Parks is very good at capturing the essential nuttiness of the Italian bureaucracy, and tells several amusing anecdotes on that topic. The author also does a good job at describing an interloper's gradual acceptance into a small town, and he portrays several of the moments in this process - the first greeting, the first friendship - with great realism and feeling. These promising elements were enough to keep me, at least, reading to the end, but they weren't enough to make me love the book. Summary: Italian Neighbors, while an interesting perspective on small town Italy, falls short in enough areas that it probably will be truly enjoyable only to those who can never read enough about Italy (and who don't care much for dogs). But for many armchair travelers and expats, the book's merits will provide sufficient justification for a single reading of a library book. Borrow, don't buy.
Rating: 
Summary: An interesting read
Review: As a Brit having lived in Italy many years ago, I always like to take the opportunity to return there even though I am at present just an armchair traveller. Tim Parks writes a witty and interesting story and gives insight to the inner workings of the bureacracy and the "system". The trials and tribulations of everyday life are well chronicled including the hysterial neighbor and the barking dog. At times I wish the author had "opened the door a little wider" by telling us what he had when he dined out and just a few more titbits about his personal life. He leaves it to the reader to surmise that his wife is actually an Italian. I highly recommend the book and can't wait to read the sequel. Enjoy it!
Rating:
Summary: An Enjoyable Book
Review: As an American who spends part of each year in Italy, I found Mr. Parks' book to be delightful reading. I sometimes hesitate reading books about Italy because I feel that the author does not capture or understand the essence of Italian day to day living. Mr. Parks has successfully told his story in an enjoyable and honest manner. I also read his book An Italian Education, which was very good.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Quite a Gentleman from Verona
Review: For me it began with A Year in Provence. Since then I have read a string of books about the experiences of expatriates living in distant and romantic lands. Although most of the authors I have read insist that they have made a new home, their books read like extended travelogues. And that's what I like. When the authors depart from discussions of good meals, quaint local customs, and the details of remodeling their charming old estates, I am displeased. When they start ranting about the failings of the natives, I lose interest. So it comes as a bit of a surprise to me that I was able to get through Mr. Parks' book, though it did take me two attempts. Italian Neighbors is a study of the foibles and peccadilloes (quite literally, in some cases) of Italians, focusing mainly on his neighbors along Via Colombare and acquaintances made in the village of Montecchio. I do not doubt that these are essentially accurate characterizations; it is just that they are not particularly pleasant to read. Whereas my favorite books of this genre do a good job of describing the beauty of romantic lands, Mr. Parks has a knack for describing the ugliness of certain individuals. Some of my neighbors are jerks too, but I'm surely not going to memorialize them in a book. Of course, now I know why Mayle advises against taking up residence in French villages: they are probably a lot like Parks' adopted home of Montecchio.
Rating:
Summary: Not Quite a Gentleman from Verona
Review: For me it began with A Year in Provence. Since then I have read a string of books about the experiences of expatriates living in distant and romantic lands. Although most of the authors I have read insist that they have made a new home, their books read like extended travelogues. And that's what I like. When the authors depart from discussions of good meals, quaint local customs, and the details of remodeling their charming old estates, I am displeased. When they start ranting about the failings of the natives, I lose interest. So it comes as a bit of a surprise to me that I was able to get through Mr. Parks' book, though it did take me two attempts. Italian Neighbors is a study of the foibles and peccadilloes (quite literally, in some cases) of Italians, focusing mainly on his neighbors along Via Colombare and acquaintances made in the village of Montecchio. I do not doubt that these are essentially accurate characterizations; it is just that they are not particularly pleasant to read. Whereas my favorite books of this genre do a good job of describing the beauty of romantic lands, Mr. Parks has a knack for describing the ugliness of certain individuals. Some of my neighbors are jerks too, but I'm surely not going to memorialize them in a book. Of course, now I know why Mayle advises against taking up residence in French villages: they are probably a lot like Parks' adopted home of Montecchio.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book for anyone about to visit Italy
Review: Having been to Italy 15 times over the last 5 years,
I "thought" I had an insight on how Italians, especially
Northerners, thinks and feel. Tim Parks' book gives me
new insight into a people who are as unusual and interesting
as they come. Excellent for a person who has yet to visit
or will visit shortly.
RCMiller
Rating:
Summary: A Journey into Latinization
Review: I borrowed this book from a British friend after my first trip to fascinating Italy. I read it in one sitting- just couldn't get enough of Park's (VERY dramatic ) accounts of his move into a culture of wild Latins who waste no time with proper rules of conduct and infinite responsibilities, but instead rejoice in a world of emotional chaos and random events. Being Latin myself, I can trace Parks' transformation into a true specimen of our kind. His journey into Latinization encompasses some very familiar events: learning to deal with strangers' hysterical displays of unresolved issues in a most kind and sympathetic manner, cohabiting with invincible insects and volunteeringly engaging in the murder of a harmless animal for the sake of restful sleep.
Fellow Italy lovers-you MUST follow Park in his adventure. His bitter and skeptical narrative provides us indispensable pieces of the puzzle of what it takes to develop a real passionate and impulsive Italian character. If nothing else, you'll certainly get a good laugh out of it!
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