Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Lyons Public Library | 747.09 MAY | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Newberg Public Library | 747.0945 MAYES | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Salem Main Library | 747.0945 Mayes 2004 | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
I always imagine each of the signoras who lived in this house--where she shelled peas, rocked the grandchild, placed a vase of the pink roses. Now I would like to take one of these women back to my house in California to show her how Bramasole traveled to America and took root, how the doors there are open to the breeze from San Pablo bay and to the distant view of Mount Tamalpais, how the table has expanded and the garden has burgeoned...
The "bard of Tuscany" ( New York Times ) now offers a lavishly illustrated book for everyone who dreams of integrating the Tuscan lifestyle--from home decoration and cooking, to eating and drinking, to gardening, socializing, and celebrating--into their own lives.
When Frances Mayes fell in love with Tuscany and Bramasole , millions of readers basked in the experience through her three bestselling memoirs. Now Frances and her husband, In Tuscany coauthor Edward, share the essence of Tuscan life as they have lived it, with specific ideas and inspiration for readers stateside to bring the beauty and spirit of Tuscany into their own home decor, meals, gardens, entertaining and, most important, outlook on life. In her inimitable warm and evocative tone, Frances helps readers develop an eye for authentic Tuscan style, with advice on how to:
* Choose a Tuscan color palette for the home, from earthy apricot tones to invigorating shades of antique blue.
* Personalize a room with fanciful door frames, unique painted furniture, and fresco murals.
* Cultivate a Tuscan garden, adding fountains, vine-covered pergolas, and terra-cotta urns among the herbs and flowers
* Select the best Italian vino. (Frances describes lunches at regional vineyards and imparts tips for pairing food and wine.)
* Create an atmosphere of irresistible, anytime hospitality--a casa aperta (open home).
* Make primo finds at local antiques markets. (And to help truly bring Tuscany home, shipping advice and market days for several Tuscan towns are included.)
* Set an imaginative Tuscan table using majolica and vintage linens.
* Enjoy the abundant flavors and easy simplicity of the Tuscan kitchen, with details on everything from olive oil and vino santo to pici and gnocchi , plus special homegrown menus and recipes.
* Make the most of a trip to Tuscany, visiting Frances's favorite hill towns, restaurants, small museums, and other soothing places.
With more than 100 photos by acclaimed photographer Steven Rothfeld (including several of the Mayes's California home and its Tuscan accents), twenty-five all-new recipes, and lists of resources for travelers and shoppers, Bringing Tuscany Home is a treasure trove of practical advice and memorable images.
Author Notes
A native of Georgia, Frances Mayes received a B.A. from the University of Florida and an M.A. from San Francisco State University. She is a creative writing professor at San Francisco State University.
Mayes' memoir "Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy," about buying and restoring an abandoned villa in Cortona, was a national best seller in 1996. It became the basis of a feature film of the same name in 2003 starring Diane Lane.
In addition her travel writing, Frances Mayes is the author of six books of poetry and is a respected essayist and gourmet cook. Frances' title Under Magnolia is a 2015 New York Times bestseller.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Only those who love sitting through slides from other people's vacations are likely to warm to Mayes's latest, on the joys of owning a renovated Tuscan villa. Mayes's first book on the subject, Under the Tuscan Sun, sold two million copies and spawned a Hollywood film, but with each return visit to familiar territory (Bella Tuscany; In Tuscany) Mayes finds less fresh material. This work is a grab bag of guess-you-had-to-be-there anecdotes (Mayes devotes an entire paragraph to the activities of a wasp that flies into her study while she's writing) and suggestions for how readers can, as Mayes and her husband, Ed, do, live the good life in northern California and Italy. (Hint: it takes a lot of money.) The book includes 25 recipes, though few are specifically Tuscan. Instead, Mayes devotes space to Nancy Silverton's Italian Plum Tart (Silverton, founder of Los Angeles's Campanile restaurant, has her own villa one valley over) and several recipes of Ed's. The listing of Mayes's own "At Home in Tuscany Collection" of furniture at book's end adds to the coyly self-indulgent feel. (Oct.) Forecast: The conceit that readers can live this lush lifestyle rings hollow, and the mishmash of decorating advice, travelogue, recipes and random musings never gels. Mayes's name carries weight, but this is unlikely to come close to Under the Tuscan Sun's success. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Mayes, who found her audience with Under the Tuscan Sun, is going one better, this time with a picture book. If Under didn't leave readers green with envy, this one will in 30 seconds flat, especially if it's crack opened in the dead of winter. Mellow old villas glowing with candle light, reverent close-ups of olives on the vine, sunsets over the Tuscan hillsides--it's sweet suffering indeed for the reader who longs for Italy. Mayes's extended meditation on the good life is roughly divided into the various components thereof: "The Open House," "The Rooms," "The Garden Under the Sun," "Throw in the Pasta," and more. Each is a pastiche of the author's reminiscences of her and her husband's personal history, and the friends they've made in their new home away from home. At the heart of the book is Bramsole, the villa made famous by Mayes's bestseller. Chapter by chapter, she wanders through its rooms, showcases its gardens, and ventures out to other picturesque locales in the countryside. As a bookend to the architectural musings, she and her husband buy a decrepit old house that they plan to restore. The authors finish strong with the soul of Italian culture: the food. Ed Mayes, frustrated with the difficulties of finding Italian flavors on American soil, provides a number of recipes that achieve that true Tuscan flavor. Perfect for holiday coverage in light of Under the Tuscan Sun's popularity as well as the success of the movie. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Mayes' In Tuscany (2000) is a glossy coffee-table volume that combines a cookbook, a guidebook, and Mayes' appreciative ruminations about Tuscan culture. With the help of her husband, poet Edward Mayes, she revisits much of the same material, but this title reads more like a lifestyle guide for Italophiles yearning to bring the Tuscan sun into their own homes. The loosely organized chapters focus on home and garden design, food, and entertaining in spreads accompanied by Steven Rothfeld's lavish photographs of villas, fields, and the Mayes' friends enjoying la dolce vita around the table. Some of Mayes' suggestions, such as her garden tips borrowed from the Medicis, may be out of reach for many readers. And a few recipes use ingredients that are hard to find stateside. But she offers plenty of accessible ideas as well, such as the rich colors and decorative scenes painted on many Tuscan walls. And most readers won't want this for the practical specifics; they'll merely enjoy the vicarious plunge into a relaxed, gracious culture that this, like all of Mayes' titles, offers. --Gillian Engberg Copyright 2004 Booklist
Library Journal Review
When it comes to decorating in a rustic Italian style, Mayes should know everything Under the Tuscan Sun. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.