Virtuosos of a One Man Band

Paul Hofmann is the author of the book, "That Fine Italian Hand", chapter 10 is titled, "Virtuosos Without Orchestra" and it is a piece that is as witty as it is insightful and descriptive of his topic, the individualism that is Italian culture. A seemingly simple observation about the lack of lines and competitive driving in Italy is used to display an insightful commentary on Italian individualism; "Any first-time visitor to the country will notice many telltale signs of its inhabitants' exuberant individualism. Like the Italians' distaste for lining up in orderly queues, their driving habits are a symptom of their self-interest and their need to excel". The piece is very informative but equally insightful; Hofmann is particularly persuasive though because he presents the reader with his insight then logically supports it with verifiable information.
The piece taught me a lot about Italian culture in general and their political culture more specifically, he references the notion of competition as an ever-present example of the tension in life. As I mentioned earlier Hofmann uses the topic of driving to convey several aspects of culture. We see an example of this when he discusses driving in Italy; "Driving on Italian highways and in the congested cities is a highly competitive undertaking in which motorists continually muster all their skills and cunning, always prepared for the worst from everyone else on the road".
This type of writing is also an example of Hofmann's descriptive style and good use of relatable comparisons, one in particular that he carries throughout the piece is musically based; "Players in an Italian musical body - always referred to as the 'professors of the orchestra' - dislike being subordinate to the conductor as much as local soldiers detest having to obey their sergeant or lieutenant". He continues this idea referencing it throughout the piece with insightful remarks like, "There seems to be no desire, in or outside the country, for a national Italian 'orchestra'".
He successfully utilizes the title, using it as a recurring theme that he carries throughout the piece, specifically referencing it at one point saying, "The fine Italian hand has forever to grope for new supports and crevices, like a climber on a rock face. This all may sound perilous, yet for most italians the need for continual maneuvering - at the wheels of their car, at the office or on the shop floor, in their love lives - seems to add zest to their existence". He ties this idea and cultural insight neatly back into the conclusion referencing both the comparison that occurs in the title as well as the implications it has for their cultural climate closing with, "There are drawbacks, as this book has shown. But the Italians are virtuosos at coping with them".

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Italian Seduction: A Dark Force

"The Means of Seduction" is a piece from author Tobias Jones' book, "The Dark Heart of Italy". Simply in terms of providing a piece with an accurate and descriptive title that permeates the entirety of the article, Jones succeeds. The title aptly describes the overall focus of the piece and its purpose. We see this in several areas, from television to eroticism to politics, and it applies to all of then. Perhaps the darkest example of the seduction Jones speaks of is in reference to Berlusconi and his media hold; "By now the most convincing explanation, albeit the most mundane, for Berlusconi's political appeal is the simple fact that he controls three television channels. Having a politician who owns three television channels turns any election into the equivalent of a football match in which one team kicks-off with a three-goal advantage". This is also an example of how he makes an insightful observation but, makes it relatable by describing it in terms of an understandable comparison.
Jones is a perceptive and extremely insightful writer, instead of just dictating information to the reader, the reader learns through him and his experiences. The piece is well written and instead of just making blanket statements he makes a point then supports the observation with facts. An example of this can be seen when he discusses the excessive nature of advertising Italian television; he supports the observation with the fact, "57% of all Italian advertising budgets are sunk into television; in Britain the figure is 33.5%, in Germany only 23%".
While the piece is undeniable educational there are a lot of topics to keep track of and some tangents, a rather lengthy italicized one in particular, is a bit confusing in some parts but, he does a very good job at talking about the visual aspect of Italian culture. This is discussed in most length with reference to their television culture and the eroticism that permeates almost every area of their culture, immensely overpowering the literary aspect. He tells us how truly visual a society Italy really is with observations like, "To survive, the edible - the little pavilions on street corners which sell newspapers - have to double as fetish shops, selling gadgets and videos and soft-porn magazines alongside the newsprint". As someone who noticed this for the first time and proceeded to perform an awkwardly obvious double take, I can attest to the accuracy of this statement and the significance behind it.
Alongside the history and information though Jones also writes humorously about the differences between British and Italian manners, referencing an instance where he had to tell his Italian football mates that they could not refer to their British counterparts as beautiful or dear, the Italians of course wimpy did not understand this coldness. It is in this way, in addition to the history and facts that Jones informs his reader, this time through personal experience.
As I mentioned before he is a very perceptive writer and he makes many important insights into the culture and place, regarding issues such as the lack of literary importance, the prevalence of eroticism and the lack of feminism. He does not sugar coat the latter and says very matter-of-factly, "It becomea clear that Italy is the land that feminism forgot". In case you are doubting this point he references several examples included one television debate he watched where the woman hosting the debate, "...other than serving the men coffee, took off an item of clothing each time the political debate became tedious". It is these type of bold examples and insights that are seen throughout the piece in every area, even comparing Berlusconi to Musselini and having no qualms about it. Jones is clearly a skilled writer and makes a strong argument for the darkness of "the means of seduction" that entice Italians at every opportunity.

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Italy like Tangled Phone Lines

"Residenza" is a short piece by author Tim Parks that takes a personal experience of dealing with issues of residency and phone bills in the Italian culture and conveys some cultural knowledge to the reader. While the piece does make some useful insights about the round-about style of many things in Italian culture. For instance his observation on Italian conversations, "So many conversations in Italy follow these serpentine paths, with new laws and regulations constantly raising their ugly heads to turn the most obvious ways forward into dead ends". Anyone who's had a conversation while in Italy knows this is often the case.
However, some of the main material i.e paying phone bills is un-relatable (at least at this juncture in my 20-something life). He does make some good observations though about the differences between the Italian onion of "residency" as compared to other cultures. He also relates this aspect well to other cultural significances, such as the troubles with Italian bureaucracy, saying, "Bureaucracy is a huge tangle of sticky string in which every attempt to loosen one knot tightens another". He closes by citing an example of the confusing serpentine paths that many Italian aspects follow when he mentions a scenario where several bills are in the name of a man who is deceased. The ending feels a little abrupt but nonetheless it gets the point across, but I think it could have connected to the introduction a bit more fluidly or provided a slightly different perspective than the traditional one that it does.

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Time the Italian Way

"On Italian Time", is a short piece by Mary Morris that looks at the culture of Italy through their own special timing. The piece is both informative and relatable because as a reader and fellow traveller I am able to connect to her on the tourist level, but I am also able to relate to the Italian perspective she presents through her experience.
Her writing style is personal but intuitive, she says some very accurate and insightful things but she presents them in a very honest way.
For example this passage, "I am not a cynic and I live Italy. But I have discovered that time and space are relative notions there. I have followed signs to the Palazzo Grassi that led directly into a wall, and floated the wrong way down a one-way canal, the gondolier shouting all the way. I've read timetables that had no relation to actual departure times, and followed a sign to Verona that in fifteen minutes brought me back full circle to the place on Lake Garda where I had begun". It's not an overly romantic observation but it's an honest and accurate portrayal of the everyday, and this makes it relatable so that I appreciate the candidness. This might be due in part to the fact that I've recently been able to have the travel experience. Having had the experience for myself allows me to appreciate the accuracy of the reporting and makes it that mug more apparent and relatable.

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Special Ed

"My Special Education", is a piece by David Farley that is personable and humorous but also teaches the reader something about language (somewhat in terms of a language barrier) and Italian culture. Telling us first and foremost that the main purpose for his travel is a quest for the disappearance of a Calcata town relic, the Holy Foreakin, how can you not laugh at that?
His writing style is light-hearted but informative, in part because of its confessional style. The first two pages of the piece are dedicated to background information about him and his struggles in the school system as someone dubbed with "a learning disability", telling the reader that because of this, "I had suddenly become the village idiot in my house". Even someone who wasn't sent to the "special" classes can relate to people making you doubt your intellectual ability and the debilitating effect that it can have on a person.
It is this confessional aspect and admission to his slightly bumbling difficulty with communication in general that makes the piece relatable. It may not come across as authoritative but there are so many other travel pieces that are almost overwhelmingly authoritative that it was kind of a breath of fresh air to feel like the article I was reading was truly written by someone who dealt with the same language barrier problems as me.
I think the fact that this piece was still informative about the people, language and culture is an important thing to note, articles don't always need to talk down to their readers or try to impress them with fancy language to make them feel legitimate. In many ways I found this piece certainly much more enjoyable than many others I've read but I thought there was something endearing and honest about his blunt and open writing style. And clearly he's become a very successful writer, so much for being the village idiot.

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Cut It Out

"Cutouts" is a piece by Constance Hale, which seems a bit out of place in a book entitled, The Best Travel Writing of 2006. It's certainly a very different type of travel piece, not really feeling like a travel piece at all but rather a personal narrative of an experience that occurred while traveling, the focus isn't actually the travel itself. The piece doesn't really describe Italian culture and because of its lack of educational information it seemed like it was slightly lacking purpose. That being said it's not bad writing, it just seems misplaced in a travel anthology. The writing itself is actually very clear-voiced and makes good use of symbolic details. Like when describing the building of Aldo's house; "Aldo had built the stone house by hand, and during a hiatus in the building project, a spider had spun a web in the valley between two stones. Aldo couldn't bear to destroy the web, so he placed a glass behind the spider and kept building". These are the kind of symbolic details that I thought made the piece interesting and showed that with a bit of editing it could have been made into a very insightful, useful travel piece. However, it would have been more fulfilling if it had provided a better sense of time and place.

The description of her "not-lover" Aldo is interesting and peaks my interests about him but I think it would have been better if she described more of their mentor/mentee relationship, teaching the reader about the artistic culture and perhaps something of the culture in general through her learning from him. When she describes Aldo's take on art and its imperfections I think that could have been further developed into something very telling about Italian culture and their version of beauty; "For imperfection, Aldo insisted, was the soul of art. To him, a perfect painting was merely decorative. A bit of watercolor out of control - or the self-doubt I couldn't escape - suggested Truth, Life, the Human Condition". I think in addition to providing more information it also would have provided a new perspective for the reader and allowed us to see things through her eyes in a useful way. I think this kind of information would have been more applicable instead of some of the unessecary personal and background details that were included.

The Court of Culatello

Anya Von Bremzen looks at the "rare, expensive and obscenely good" hams of Massimo Spigaroli, in her article, "The Culatello King". In the first two paragraphs her language sets the wonderous and admiring tone of the rest of the piece, quoting Spigaroli who says, "'It isn't just meat, it's myth.'". She then goes on to provide a bit of background information about the royal meat and supports the information with an interesting fact, enticing the reader while educating them. The piece continues this pattern of enticement and education by including several quotes and a personable writing style that makes the piece light-hearted and as flavorful as the meat it describes. Walking down to the culatello cellar, which we have just been informed by a smirking Spigaroli means "little ass", we are given a sense of her experience, "The dusky perfume is so intoxicating, I want to swoon and never revive".

We are then provided with another interesting, educational moment when we are told about some royal hams indeed, royal in the sense that there are hams set aside for the Prince of Wales. The piece is brief and an easy read and the ending is short and to the point, for all the sensory descriptions she does not waste time with overly flowery language. I think this is a subtle but important detail to notice because, I think it was done very purposefully I get the sense that she really wants the food to speak for itself; she is merely providing just enough description and detail to give us a hint of what this royal meat is really all about.