title: La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind
author:  Beppe Severgnini 
description: Praise for Beppe Severgnini<br /><br /><i>La Bella Figura</i><br /><br />Dont read this bookunless you have the courage to let Dottore Severgnini carve up your well-worn stereotypes about Italy.<i>La Bella Figura</i> proves that twenty-first-century Italians are more complicated than we thought. Sort of like Europeans. And Beppe loves them all. Howard Tomb, author of <i>Wicked Italian</i><br /><br />The book on perplexing Italians . . . Severgninis most systematic probe of the Italian psyche yet . . . A keen observer of human nature, [he watches] his compatriots with amused insight . . . Laugh-out-loud funny. <i>International Herald Tribune</i><br /><i></i><br /><i>Ciao, America!</i><br /><br />A Bella Laugh . . . This wonderfully funny and perceptive book . . . now finds its way to the country that inspired it.What a pity it took so long to get here, but what a joy that it is here at last.<i>Ciao, America!</i> is fun from first page to last, pure and simple. <i>The Washington Post </i><br /><i></i><br />Its not easy to walk the thin line between Tocquevilles <i>Democracy in America</i> and <i>Dave Barrys Only Travel Guide Youll Ever Need</i>, but this memoir manages to do so admirably. <i>Booklist </i><br /><i></i><br />Severgnini is a master . . . <i>Ciao, America! </i>is a sardonic tale of cultural bewilderment, an incisive peek into the mundane obsession of our American existence that makes the commonplace seem not only insane but extremely funny. <i>Publishers Weekly</i><br /><i></i><br />A delightful read, full of wonderful anecdotes that capture the eye-opening absurdity of life in these United States. <i>Chicago Tribune</i><br /><br />It would be difficult not to like this delightful book. <i>Library Journal</i>
zlib_text: Jo Thomas
  
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  CHASING THE ITALIAN DREAM
  
  ![](Images/image00142.jpeg)
  
  Contents
  
    1. PROLOGUE
    2. CHAPTER ONE
    3. CHAPTER TWO
    4. CHAPTER THREE
    5. CHAPTER FOUR
    6. CHAPTER FIVE
    7. CHAPTER SIX
    8. CHAPTER SEVEN
    9. CHAPTER EIGHT
    10. CHAPTER NINE
    11. CHAPTER TEN
    12. CHAPTER ELEVEN
    13. CHAPTER TWELVE
    14. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
    15. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
    16. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
    17. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
    18. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
    19. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
    20. CHAPTER NINETEEN
    21. CHAPTER TWENTY
    22. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
    23. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
    24. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
    25. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
    26. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
    27. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
    28. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
    29. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
    30. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
    31. CHAPTER THIRTY
    32. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
    33. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
    34. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
    35. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
    36. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
    37. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
    38. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
    39. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
    40. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
    41. CHA