Florence : a Delicate Case
by David Leavitt
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Why has Florence always drawn so many English and American visitors? (At the turn of the century, the Anglo-American population numbered more than thirty thousand.) Why have men and women fleeing sex scandals traditionally settled here? What is it about Florence that has made it so fascinating--and so repellent--to artists and writers over the years? Moving fleetly between present and past and exploring characters both real and fictional, Leavitt's narrative limns the history of the foreign show more colony from its origins in the middle of the nineteenth century until its demise under Mussolini, and considers the appeal of Florence to figures as diverse as Tchaikovsky, E.M. Forster, Ronald Firbank, and Mary McCarthy. Lesser-known episodes in Florentine history--the moving of Michelangelo's David, and the construction of temporary bridges by black American soldiers in the wake of the Second World War--are contrasted with images of Florence today (its vast pizza parlors and tourist culture). Leavitt also examines the city's portrayal in such novels and films as A Room with a View, The Portrait of a Lady and Tea with Mussolini. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
David Leavitt divides his time between Gainesville, Florida, where he teaches, and Florence, Italy, which residence has resulted in this charming little book, part of Bloomsbury's The Writer and the City series.
Leavitt concentrates on the expatriate experience in Florence, particularly the expatriate homosexual experience, even more particularly the expatriate English homosexual experience, in the person of folks like Norman Douglas (author of South Wind), E.M. Forster and Ronald Firbank. He does not entirely neglect the ladies, however, noting that "the English ladies who have gone over to Catholicism . . . may be the loudest presence of all."
Neither a guidebook nor a history book, though there is a touch of each, this book rather show more provides an atmosphere, a feeling about the city, from the point of view of one who is at one and the same time an insider and an outsider. It's full of delightful gossip, and one gets the sense that, like Alice Longworth Roosevelt, Leavitt thinks that "if you can't say something nice, come sit next to me."
If nothing else, reading this book has confirmed me in my desire to visit Florence. show less
Leavitt concentrates on the expatriate experience in Florence, particularly the expatriate homosexual experience, even more particularly the expatriate English homosexual experience, in the person of folks like Norman Douglas (author of South Wind), E.M. Forster and Ronald Firbank. He does not entirely neglect the ladies, however, noting that "the English ladies who have gone over to Catholicism . . . may be the loudest presence of all."
Neither a guidebook nor a history book, though there is a touch of each, this book rather show more provides an atmosphere, a feeling about the city, from the point of view of one who is at one and the same time an insider and an outsider. It's full of delightful gossip, and one gets the sense that, like Alice Longworth Roosevelt, Leavitt thinks that "if you can't say something nice, come sit next to me."
If nothing else, reading this book has confirmed me in my desire to visit Florence. show less
A gem of a little book, albeit told from a certain particular perspective--almost a secret history, which makes Dan Brown boring.
I don't know if it was me being ignorant in the "classics" or what, but this book was just so nose-in-the-air that I just couldn't do it anymore. I got it out as a way to introduce myself to Florence (Italy) before my trip in a few weeks but it was nothing like I thought - hoped - it would be. I snuck a peek at another review on here when I was deciding if I should stop reading or not (I try not to read reviews of things until after I've read or watched them), and it called the author pretentious, which is exactly what I mean by nose-in-the-air. I've started many books with the intention of finishing them *one day* but this is the first time I'm saying that I'm officially done with a book.
Apesar do início interessante, acabou sendo mais uma biografia da vida das colônias inglesas e americanas na cidade.
Why are there even books like this? Ick. double ick. Leavitt reminds me of everyone and everything gross in [b:Hotel de Dream|973516|Hotel de Dream|Emma Tennant|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1362179538s/973516.jpg|958414] all at once.
Ugh, Leavitt is self-indulgent and makes a whole lot of assumptions about the reader. This was like reading a really bad doctoral dissertation.
Cheryl's book before giving it away
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Books set in Firenze (Florence, Italy)
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Author Information
59+ Works 8,766 Members
David Leavitt's first collection of stories, "Family Dancing," was a finalist for both the National Book Critics Circle Award & the PEN/Faulkner Prize. "The Lost Language of Cranes" was made into a BBC film, & "While England Sleeps" was shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Fiction Prize. Leavitt is also the author of "Equal Affections," "A Place show more I've Never Been," "Arkansas," & "The Page Turner." With Mark Mitchell, he coedited "The Penguin Book of Short Stories" & "The Pages Passed from Hand to Hand" & cowrote "Italian Pleasures." He is recipient of fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation & the National Endowment for the Arts. He divides his time between Italy and Florida. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Florence : a Delicate Case
- Original title
- Florence, a Delicate Case
- People/Characters
- Ronald Firbank; E. M. Forster; Mary McCarthy
- Important places
- Florence, Tuscany, Italy
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Statistics
- Members
- 293
- Popularity
- 109,342
- Reviews
- 8
- Rating
- (2.92)
- Languages
- 7 — Dutch, English, German, Greek, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 13
- ASINs
- 4
