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| A Thousand Days in Tuscany: A Bittersweet Adventure | 
 enlarge | Author: Marlena De Blasi
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 23871
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 5.5 x 0.8
ISBN: 0345481097
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.59455
EAN: 9780345481092
ASIN: 0345481097
Publication Date: September 27, 2005
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Product Description
They had met and married on perilously short acquaintance, she an American chef and food writer, he a Venetian banker. Now they were taking another audacious leap, unstitching their ties with exquisite Venice to live in a roughly renovated stable in Tuscany.
Once again, it was love at first sight. Love for the timeless countryside and the ancient village of San Casciano dei Bagni, for the local vintage and the magnificent cooking, for the Tuscan sky and the friendly church bells. Love especially for old Barlozzo, the village mago, who escorts the newcomers to Tuscany’s seasonal festivals; gives them roasted country bread drizzled with just-pressed olive oil; invites them to gather chestnuts, harvest grapes, hunt truffles; and teaches them to caress the simple pleasures of each precious day. It’s Barlozzo who guides them across the minefields of village history and into the warm and fiercely beating heart of love itself.
A Thousand Days in Tuscany is set in one of the most beautiful places on earth–and tucked into its fragrant corners are luscious recipes (including one for the only true bruschetta) directly from the author’s private collection.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 LIFE AND LOVE IN TUSCANY October 20, 2004
50 out of 60 found this review helpful
There's no doubt that she's ardent, intense; sometimes fiery. Marlena De Blasi is a passionate woman. Make that passionate with a capital P. A chef, she has a passion for food. Married to Fernando, a Venetian with "blueberry eyes, " she has a passion for Italy. Her exuberance is so contagious that readers will relish every page of "A Thousand Days In Tuscany" (as well as the recipe that ends each chapter).
Ms. De Blasi waxes so enthusiastically about her subjects that it almost seems she writes in bold print to extol the virtues of wild herbs, fresh cheese, and the Tuscan twilight. She is a firm believer in love, and an advocate of life, as well as the living of it.
As many will remember with "A Thousand Days In Venice," Ms. De Blasi first visited Italy perhaps a dozen years ago. On her first day there as she was sitting in a cafe with her traveling companions, she noticed an attractive man who seemed to be looking at her. Next, in true Danielle Steel style, a waiter told her that she had a phone call. It was, of course, the mysterious man urging her to meet him. She declined but returned to the cafe a few days later to find him there. They saw one another until she returned to St. Louis.
He soon followed. Fernando, we learned, was a banker who had never married. He would later say that he knew she was the one the moment he saw her. Although she did not share this initial surety she gave in to his pleas. Much to the astonishment and concern of her grown children and friends she returned with him to Venice where they married. She had imagined an apartment overlooking the Grand Canal. Instead she found a square concrete house on the Lido. Little did that matter - there was Fernando.
And, there is still Fernando who came home one day to announce that he has quit his job at the bank, and they're moving to Tuscany. A redone stable lacking central heating, a phone, and other amenities in the small village of San Casciano dei Bagni becomes their new home. It does boast a closet size kitchen with a refrigerator akin to what one might find by a hotel mini bar. She writes of their contract with the stable owner: "There had been a well-defined agreement with Signora Lucci that the house would be clean and that it would be empty. Neither is the case." The signora's furniture is "all in the form of irrefutable junk."
Nonetheless, the ever resourceful De Blasi is soon trimming the windows in her Venetian drapes complete with tasseled tiebacks, and delighting in her first taste of fried zucchini blossoms. The bar or restaurant in the village becomes almost their second home. It is there that they meet the villagers and take their morning espresso.
They're adopted by an elderly gentleman, Barlozzo, who tells fascinating stories and indoctrinates them into the ways of the region. He teaches them how to pick olives- one by one, harvest grapes, and hunt for wild mushrooms. Florina or Flori becomes another special friend. She of the shy smile and warm heart. Times, we learn, have changed very little in San Casciano dei Bagni.
It is here by the site of the ancient Roman baths, where Horace and Ottaviano Augustus vacationed, that Ms. De Blasi learns "the great secret that living in the moment and being content with one's portion makes for the best of all lives."
If the reader is fortunate, that is only one small lesson learned during this idyllic sojourn in the Tuscan hills.
- Gail Cooke
Enchanting Memoir of Rural Tuscan Life. January 10, 2005
34 out of 47 found this review helpful
`A Thousand Days in Tuscany' by American (transplanted to Italy), Marlena De Blasi is a sequel to her `A Thousand Days in Venice'. While I have not read the earlier work, I sense that both are personal memoirs of her life in Italy with her companion Fernando, with culinary grace notes and comments.
The number of stars to be rewarded to Ms. De Blasi's work is complicated by the fact that there are several excellent works on living and eating in Tuscany, so the bar is set pretty high. Leading the pack by far is the great culinary memoir by Patience Gray, `Honey from a Weed'. Another very high quality work is `The Tuscan Year' by Elizabeth Romer. On culinary points alone, Ms. De Blasi's work is pretty weak, as the book contains a scant nine recipes for pretty routine stuff.
Fortunately, this book should not be weighed on this score alone, even though Amazon.com conned me into buying it by having it come up in new releases of culinary titles. The book is more valuable as a picture of life through the seasons as seen by an American, with much the same tone as Frances Mayes `Under the Tuscan Sun'.
And yet, the book is less than perfect on this score as well. I am a little puzzled by the fact that while the title of the book promises a thousand days, the text covers one calendar year. I also found some of the narrative just a bit confusing. For many pages, the writing seemed to confuse Barlozzo with the character of their ducal landlord, about whom Barlozzo often complains. I also found some of the writing just a bit inept in the use of some words, as when the author describes Barlozzo's speech as `semantic'. I quite honestly believe the author simply did not have a firm grip on the meaning of `semantic' when she used it in this context. As a former professional philosopher and student of the philosophy of language, I assure you dear reader that this word use was at least confusing.
In spite of all those rants, this is an exceedingly pleasant book to read. It evokes Italian rural life in such a way that I an literally encouraged to get on a plane to Italy and spend a year there myself, if Madame Mayes and De Blasi and company have not already convinced half the English speaking world to do the same thing.
I will not bore you with recounting the events of the book, as other reviews have covered this very well. I will say that this volume is much better than some other discussions of Tuscan life such as those from Mary Ann Esposito (`Chao Italia in Tuscany') and Pino Luongo (`Simply Tuscan'). While these volumes have a lot of worthy culinary material, they fail as genuine reflections of Tuscan life.
Recommended to anyone who enjoys Frances Mayes books on living in Tuscany.
 Have some wine, sit down, stay awhile and read this book! October 27, 2005
18 out of 18 found this review helpful
Marlena de Blasi follows up her Thousand Days in Venice: An Unexpected Romance, with her newest book, A Thousand Days in Tuscany.
This begins with the arrival of American food writer Marlena, and her Venetian husband Fernando, in the small Tuscan village of San Casciano de Bagni, where they rent an ancient farmhouse, with no telephone, central heat, or television. Fernando has given up his job in a Venetian bank; and they will be living on their small savings and Marlena's earnings for her writing.
Her children are grown and settled; now they are on their own grand adventure. On the day they move in, the villagers gather around, and help them clean and unpack; then there is an impromptu potluck party in the piazza around the town bar, with fired zucchini blossoms as the main feature. They become especially close to Floriana and old Barlozzo, who regales them with tales of the past; of instructions on how to bake, build an outdoor oven, gather and forage; and who imparts much of his wisdom.
We follow them when they harvest grapes for wine as well as figs, olives and chestnuts. They forage for spring greens and truffles and harvest eggs from under chickens. This is a beautifully constructed symphony of words, philosophy, sounds, scents, tastes, wonderful characters, beautiful rustic scenery, history, and of course love...love for Fernando, Floriana and Barlozzo, the villagers, the food, for Tuscany, for Italy, for life.
Interview with the author and reading group guide are located at the back of the book.
Armchair Interviews warns: You will immediately want to have wine with each meal, and drizzle bruschetta (brew-sket'-ah) with olive oil and a pinch of salt, and simmer some beans along with herbs and maybe some pancetta.
More Enjoyable than Frances Mayes' Books September 15, 2005
17 out of 17 found this review helpful
Having lived and worked in Italy during the 60s and early 70s, I found Marlena De Blasi's recounting of her time spent in a very small town in Tuscany more in sync with what actually happens in such a place. It was easy for me to bring forth a picture in my mind and actually feel as if I was there. Mrs. Blasi's characterizations of persons encountered was complete.
I would highly recommend "A Thousand Days in Venice" as an accurate interpretation of what happens in Italy on a daily basis.
A Feast for the Heart and the Soul......... July 4, 2005
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
Do yourself a favor and read de Blasi's "A Thousand Days in Venice" before embarking on the sequel "A Thousand Days in Tuscany". It is not required reading, but you would be missing out on a delightful and unusual love story which sets up this book so perfectly.
Do not mistake this book for a cook book. It is so much more. De Blasi's writing is a feast of sumptuous descriptions of not only food, but life in Tuscany and the joy of knowing she is living her life exactly as she wants to. After reading the book, I was taken aback to find how strongly I wanted to meet this person and be a part of her circle of friends. She is as warm and senuous as the olive oil drizzled on the crusty, roasted, tuscan breads. This book could have been filled with photographs, but they weren't necessary. De Blasi's descriptions will fill your mind's eye with amazing visuals of life in rural Tuscany. I hope when you finish the book(s) you will feel, like I do, that your heart and soul have been amptly nourished .... and your taste-buds truly inspired!
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