Tuscany in Mind: An Anthology

Book Overview

In her fourth literary travel companion, Alice Leccese Powers explores one of the most seductive regions of the world through more than two centuries of fiction, poetry, essays, letters, and memoirs by English-speaking visitors to northern Italy. The poet Shelley called Tuscany "a paradise of exiles"; it has long been a magnet for literary travelers and expatriates. Here are writers who have made their home in Tuscan villas, castles, and farmhouses, from the Shelleys, Byron, and the Brownings to Frances Mayes. Here too are Charles Dickens, Edith Wharton, Henry James, and E. M. Forster on the glories of Florence, Pisa's leaning tower, and the enchanting Tuscan countryside, alongside the tart wit of Mark Twain, Mary McCarthy, and Erica Jong. From James Boswell's record of his romantic dalliances to Laura Fraser's memoir An Italian Affair to Sarah Dunant's novel The Birth of Venus , Tuscany in Mind assembles a glittering mosaic portrait of an unforgettable place. Kinta Beevor * James Boswell * Elizabeth Barrett Browning * Robert Browning * Lord Byron * Bruce Chatwin * Ann Cornelisen * Charles Dickens * Sarah Dunant * Lawrence Ferlinghetti * Penelope Fitzgerald * E. M. Forster * Laura Fraser * Paul Gervais * Barbara Grizzuti Harrison * Robert Hellenga * William Dean Howells * Henry James * Erica Jong * D. H. Lawrence * David Leavitt and Mark Mitchell * Robert Lowell * Frances Mayes * Mary McCarthy * H. V. Morton * Eric Newby * Iris Origo * John Ormond * Elizabeth Romer * John Ruskin * Mary Shelley * Percy Bysshe Shelley * Kate Simon * Tobias Smollett * Matthew Spender * Stephen Spender * Mark Twain * Edith Wharton

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1400076757
• ISBN13: 9781400076758
• Release Date: May 2005
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 371 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Tuscany In Mind

A variety of book excerpts, poems and essays written by English and American authors about that magical place, Tuscany. They're introduced with little-known details about each author, general biographical data as well as personal reflections on Ms. Powers's own travels to Tuscany. I recommend this book to anyone planning a trip to Tuscany -- even if it's only via armchair.

Tuscany in Mind

It's all here. Prose, poetry, expository writing, memoirs . . . all about one of the most beautiful regions on the planet. When I closed this book, I felt as if I'd just returned from six weeks in a Tuscan villa. The unforgiving EURO be damned; this is a terrific read.

Beautiful words, beautiful places

The very idea of compiling an anthology of writings about Tuscany is brilliant. The place, whether you've been there or not, whether you plan to go or not, whether you live there or never leave your armchair set elsewhere, has fired the imagination for centuries. And this for a good reason, though that reason is very difficult to express. Fortunately, a variety of great writers have been moved to put down their experiences, and describe the enchantment of this loveliest of all places. And even more fortunately, Ms. Powers has assembled this fabulous and provocative collection. Beyond the land, the people, the art, the history, the food, the rhythm, there is something more ephemeral that is truly the Tuscan lure. Ms. Powers' wonderfully readable, fantastically varied set of accounts, somehow, like the place, amounts to more than the sum of it's considerable parts. I will read this book again a number of times, whenever the mysterious pull that is Tuscany beckons.

Absolutely Fabulous

Just like Ms. Leccese Powers other anthologies, this book is a dream. The best way to immerse yourself in your travels before during and after your trip. If you want to visit Tuscany through the eyes of many different literary luminaries, read this book. Highly recommended. A real gem. Douglas E. Morris, author of "Italy Guide" and other books about Italy. www.TheItalyGuide.com