Too Much Tuscan Sun: Confessions of a Chianti Tour Guide (Insiders' Guides) by Dario Castagno, Robert Rodi Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Too Much Tuscan Sun: Confessions of a Chianti Tour Guide (Insiders' Guides)
Book Review: Get me a ticket to Tuscany!
Summary: 5 Stars
Having already spent a great holiday doing the culture vulture bit in Venice I thought I might like to keep my feet dry next time and see what Florence had to offer. A search in Amazon for Tuscan Travel threw up the ususal plethora of Lonely Planet and Rough Guide type publications but I thought I'd go for something a bit more personal and intimate. As Bill Bryson didn't seem to have written one, enter "Too Much Tuscan Sun".I discovered a little gem in this book. Most travel guides are written by professional authors who don't normally live in the area they're describing. Dario Castagno is a professional guide who has an intimate knowledge of Tuscany in general and Chianti in particular, with a love for the region that shines from the pages. I thought his narrative drew wonderfully evocative pictures of the region. Dario's beautifully written and detailed description of the fierce local competition and raging emotions of Sienna's "Pallio" - a bareback horse race held every year in July and August - is a case in point.
As if being informative isn't enough, the book's also highly entertaining. In between the lush descriptions of towns and countryside there are autobiographical anecdotes and stories involving the American tourists he's guided around the place. Being a Brit I found myself alternately amused or bemused at their antics, most of whom seemed to express a total disregard and unwillingness to learn about the country they were in and the assumption that the whole world is like the USA.
Then I remembered how many of my own countrymen behave abroad!
It's not often I'm moved to write a review but this is one of those occasions. If I wanted to be picky I could say that some illustrative photos wouldn't have gone amiss but it's only a minor detraction.
If you want a travel guide that not only informs at a very high level but can also be read purely for pleasure then this is the book for you.
Book Review: Irritating
Summary: 2 Stars
I think the author had two purposes in writing this book: to vent his frustrations by slagging off American touists, and to advertise his tours. How he thinks he can reconcile the two, I really don't know. It just doesn't work.
Sure, he's met some extremely arrogant/ridiculous/moronic characters in his time, but it's bad enough being irritated by tourists (and irritating tourists are not only from the US, I'm afraid) in person - do I really have to read about them, too?
I had hoped for an insider's insight to the area but, aside from some flowery descriptions that didn't really fit the annoyed-and-exasperated tone of the rest of the book, there wasn't much of that. The only "quirky" cultural tidbit I gleaned from the whole book is that it's apparently acceptable for Tuscan tour guides to drink and drive!
Book Review: Not the best author in the world...but funny
Summary: 3 Stars
After reading Under the Tuscan Sun this book came as a nice surprise. I work in Italy in the tourism industry and so many of the customers he depicts are true...some tourists really are ridiculous.
The book is rather simply written - but it is a funny book.