Michael Rips

Readable, but slight, and about a group of people whom I found far less engaging than did the author, Michael Rips. Eccentricity or quirk aren't inherently interesting. I also found it difficult to empathise with a guy whose major life issue seemed to be that he had too much free time and money to spend on buying over-priced flea market crap to put in his $5k/month Manhattan apartment. Oh to have those kinds of problems and a book deal to write about them.

This is a very, very strange book. I read the entire book trying valiantly to reconcile this book about "Sutri" with the actual town of Sutri (which in fact is accurately pictured on the front cover of my edition). I never succeeded in the attempt, but the cognitive dissonance was interesting. I'll have to look more carefully at Sutri (the town) and see if any of Michael Rips's more bizarre and unbelievable characters are in evidence, but really although they are certainly taciturn people show more and considered strange even by residents of nearby towns, I doubt they are that far out. Especially after reading the Amazon reviews of his book about Omaha, I'm inclined to believe that most of this book is fiction. That the author (who says he doesn't speak Italian) imagined what the townspeople were saying (or would have said, if anyone spoke to him); or that he somehow managed to understand what people told him, but they were all lying to the strange American. ("You told him WHAT? Hahaha, that guy will believe anything! Wait till he hears what I thought up!") show less

I read this boo, borrowedk from the library, in April 2006. This year I received a copy through my Paperbackswap account. I decided to reread it slowly. I placed it in our bathroom and read it only a few minutes a day.

I was curious to know if I would enjoy it as much as I previously had.

Michael Rips was not particularly close to his father. After his father died Michael happened upon a photo of a naked black woman in his father's things. He decided he hadn't known his father well enough.He show more decided he had to try to find out who the woman was and how his father had been involved in her life.

That part of the story is a somewhat touching one, really. The thing is that Michael is a story-teller, and a pretty good rambler. The first time I read the book I kind of enjoyed that I guess. This time through I just wasn't nearly as enamored. I think I've matured a lot in my reading style over the years. We all surely hope to do that. I love memoir and this title certainly falls into that genre, at least in part. I generally enjoy a bit of self-discovery too but Rips is a bit holier-than-thou in the way he draws analogies. I enjoy a bit of fun in a story too. I think Rips goes too far in both directions though. He can't find a happy medium. In the earliest parts of the book he includes one story that is simply there just for its shock value, nothing more. I didn't like that. Most readers, I think, wouldn't.

I was glad to be reminded the identity of the naked lady but I'm not so thrilled that I reread this book. Today, I wouldn't recommend it to most people and can only give it about a 2.5 stars. show less

Delightful examination of the life and eccentrics of Surti, Italy from the point of view of the American author living there with his family. Funny, charming.