Too Much Tuscan Sun

For anybody who knows me, it's a given that I love travelogues. I have just about every book Bill Bryson ever wrote, and an entire shelf dedicated to them in my room. I love reading about people who have gone to interesting places and done interesting things- for two main reasons. One, I want to get an idea of the sort of things that I would like to do if I ever get to those countries, and two, so that I won't be completely ignorant about the rest of the world if I don't. Either way, I love them. And I love Italy, so when I saw this particular book in Borders a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't pass it up. (Which may be why I'm broke...)

It's not actually a travelogue- it's the story of Britain-born Dario Castagno who returned to with his parents to their native Chianti when he was ten. After becoming something of a rebel and dropping out of school, he found himself in the dead-end job of a laboror at one of the local wineries. When he tired of this life, he decided to rely on his impeccable English and open a private touring company, where he would lead small groups of people on guided tours of the Chianti region, showing them a slightly more authentic Italy than the one presented in guidebooks.

Anyway, the whole thing is kind of the anti- Under the Tuscan Sun (hence the name.) By the way, no disrespect is meant to Frances Mayes, I read that book and loved it. In the introduction, Dario states that he figured it was time for a real Tuscan too tell their story, to counteract all the books out about Americans who come to Tuscany and refurbish an old farmhouse. The book alternates chapters- one is the story of a certain group or couple he led on a tour, and the next is simply about the region, or about his business.

Presumably because the book was marketed mainly in the United States, all of the customers that are profiled in the chapters are American (although he does include a nod to his Dutch customers as well as his first couple, a British Lord and Lady). The stories are primarily about the odd, awkward, ignorant (one woman wanted to know why the Circa family had so many great artists!), and sometimes downright rude requests and situations that these people put poor Dario through during their tours, but one or two are simply him recalling a good time had with a customer who quickly became a friend.

They are told in a bitingly funny narrative, which rings totally true without ever descending into petty meanness. At first glance, the grammar and sentence structure is not the best, but when you know that the first draft was written in Italian and later translated by an American, you quickly realize that this was done to leave some of the homespun charm in the words. His chapters about Siena, the Chianti region, and the Palio are charming and insightful, but it's really the stories about the people that make this book so memorable.

You can read more about the book and it's author at www.toomuchtuscansun.com. I highly suggest you read this book immediately- you will never think about Italy in the same way again. Or look at a bottle of Chianti Classico dismissively, either!

By the way- oenophile means "wine-lover"...I had to look that one up.. ;)