Italian Days

Italian Days is beautifully written by an author who can really write. Her style is exquisite.All the important Italian cities and the landscapes of Southern Italy appear, so for anyone who ever was in Italy, this book will bring back memories as it did for me.For anyone who has not been to Italy, it will motivate them to hop into a plane right away!

I read this when it first came out, and loved it. It's waiting for me to reread in, in anticipation of making my own trek around Italy.

I read other books that were more helpful for traveling to Italy. This one bordered on a personal journal of sorts and gave lots of story lines that I didn’t care to read.

Good bang for the buck

I got this book on a 92 cent table outside the doors of a used bookstore. It was one of three about Italy I bought that day. This isn't a book to read like a novel, nor even a travel guide. It is more like finding a diary of someone you don't know and learning about them over the period of a few weeks, slowly and personally.Several people have mentioned the lack of editing. I am not sure you can or should edit a journal. The writer writes what he is thinking at the time, and those thoughts are personal and particular to a moment. I wouldn't want someone to edit my diary...it would change the perspective I am relating in ways that might not be obvious to anyone else. So I read this book as I would read a diary, with curiosity, a bit of guilt witnessing another's thoughts, and envy at her adventure.I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about this book for about the first 3 chapters. I did, however find myself continuing to pick it up, reading, and pondering her moments in a place I have never been, but some day hope to explore.

If you do not like this book, you will never understand Italy

A perennial favorite.

I agree with "bird in hand" - this book had great potential but could have been slimmed down considerably and been a good book. One of the more disturbing editing faux pas I found was Harrison's referring to the famous British food writer Elizabeth David as Elizabeth Davis. Reading that once raised my eyebrows - the second and third time I read it I was really disappointed. I also found some passages pretty self-involved - and I found myself wanting to skip sections of the book. Maybe others found that charming - but not for me sadly.