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Title: Pretty pedestrian effort
Review: I found this book very disappointing - trite, cliched "insights" into Rome and the Romans. Also, it was quite repetitive, in the manner of the self-help books he writes. He also has that self-help authorial style in that he believes all his observations have the force of revelation. The only good point is that he didn't seem as condescending to "the Italians" as Frances Mayes.Like another reviewer here, I had many questions that were left unanswered. I wanted to know more about his sons' experience; what language did they converse in day to day at home. Was Italian becoming their first language? Did they feel more Italian than American?I'm donating this book to my local library.
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