As beautiful as his prose is, Parks’ “arrival” book leaves me a little queazy. His sarcasm rings of condescension, and he dwells a little long on high-bosomed women and shrieking old ladies. Italy is too old and calcified in this telling. Italy is as new and creative as everywhere else. It is creative and reflective and in unappreciated ways, ahead of the Anglo world. ( )

I recommend Italian Neighbors. Mr. Parks recounts his time in the neighborhood with colorful vignettes of people and places. I felt I might recognize his characters if we were to meet. (I have now added molto simpatico to my Italian vocabulary.) The homes and gardens reminded me of my childhood's neighborhood. But then, I had some Italian neighbors too! These pages made me smile. ( )

A very calming book, but filled with flavour. ( )

sad to finish this ( )

A birthday gift of my Milanese daughter in 1992, I read Parks with avid appreciation. Ironic intersection of English and Italian culture: for instance, the class of Italians who want to know foreigners, "They feel they have ideas bigger than the narrow mentality of the people around them"(74). But unlike in England, where such people would want to go to a city like Manchester or London, Italians feel it may be even worse in Rome.
"They look to the fairness and openmindedness of the efficient nations further north. Extraordinarily, they believe Britain to be such a nation."
Or the delicious conflict between a local, generous greengrocer and the village priest, who announces, "Something smells rotten in here." The grocer, "Maybe the carogna [rot] of the last person to walk in."
Or the women dressed in Sunday best (furs) out of church into the bar/restaurant: "There is a parade feeling about it all. From one institution to another: the host, the briosche" (131).
His Italian Education, three years later, is in some ways more profoundly and historically revealing.
In it I learned about the Freshman Compsition I taught for 38 years, which was always under pressure to address national issues. During Viet Nam, the war, during the nineties, another war. Turns out, during WWII, Italian students' papers were judged on how well they praised Mussolini.
I'm proud to say that Tim Parks spoke in the same series that I did, the yearly Italian lecture at SUNY-New Paltz, a couple years after I did in 2013. ( )