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Too Much Tuscan Sun: Confessions of a Chianti Tour Guide (Insiders' Guides) | 
| Authors: Dario Castagno, Robert Rodi
Publisher: Globe Pequot
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $2.94
You Save: $12.01 (80%)
New (26) Used (31) Collectible (1) from $2.94
Avg. Customer Rating:  36 reviews
Sales Rank: 24920
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.9
ISBN: 0762736704
Dewey Decimal Number: 945.51092
EAN: 9780762736706
ASIN: 0762736704
Publication Date: September 1, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Book Description
Over the past several years, "the American in Tuscany" has become a literary subgenre. Launched by the phenomenal success of Frances Mayes's Under the Tuscan Sun, bookstores now burgeon with nimble, witty accounts of this clash in cultures-Americans trying to do American things in Italy and bumping against a brick wall of tradition.
Before this subgenre exhausts itself, it's only fair that we hear the other side of the story-that of a native Tuscan and of dozens of Americans who have stormed through his life and homeland, determined to find in it whatever they are looking for, whether quaintness or wisdom, submission or direction.
There is no one better to provide this view than Dario Castagno. A Tuscan guide whose client base is predominantly American, Dario has spent more than a decade taking individuals and small groups on customized tours through the Chianti region of Tuscany. Reared in Britain through early childhood, he speaks English fluently and is therefore capable of fully engaging his American clients and getting to know them. Too Much Tuscan Sun is Dario's account of some of his more remarkable customers, from the obsessive and the oblivious to the downright lunatic.
It is also a primer on Tuscany--its charms and its culture. Structured around a typical Tuscan year, Dario takes us through the sights, smells, and sounds of Chianti during each of the twelve months, including the festivities and pageantry that accord with the season, most notable the Palio-the bareback horse race that consumes the social energies of the people of Siena for all of July and August.
Dario also intersperses an account of his own life and times-that of a transplanted British "little lord" who learns to love the wilds of Chianti; of his discovery and adoption of abandoned peasant farmhouses; of his apprenticeship in the wine industry; and of his arduous transformation from bohemian layabout to thriving Tuscan guide.
But the bulk of the book is devoted, with humor and affection, to the Americans he has met-the vain, the silly, the ignorant, the ambitious, the horny, the condescending, the charming, and the outright pathological. Some of them have made his life hell and live in his nightmares; others became lifelong friends.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 31 more reviews...
 Very informative and extremely humerous December 28, 2007
This book provides great information about vineyards in Italy in a very informative and humerous manner. I highly recommend it. We bought multiple copies as Christmas gifts.
Very Enjoyable Read... December 16, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Clearly the people who trashed this book either do not have a sense of humor or were looking for another typical Tuscan tour guide. Sure Dario has a view of many American tourists that many won't want to hear, but frankly I agree with him. As an American who regularly travels to Italy, I'm constantly amazed by the stupid things American tourists do, and their inability to embrace Italian culture (isn't that one reason to go?). Dario points out these things in a very humorous way, and I enjoyed his book. My wife and I had dinner with him last year, and we both found him to be an incredible storyteller who easily brought the history of Chianti and Siena to life.
Never too much! December 11, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I purchased this book at a little wine store in Chianti one afternoon more with the expectation it would be a keepsake of a lovely Tuscany day that I wished to commemorate. The day is long forgotten but the book? I'll remember it for a lifetime!
This book stole my heart and was one of my best reads of the year! Dario's adventures are too unbelievable not to be true, too amazing not to be believed, and too heartfelt not to be enjoyed.
Bravo Dario!
Maybe not for everyone, but I loved it! May 31, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I have been doing a lot of reading, in anticipation of a trip to Italy later this year, and this book is the best I have read so far. I do not believe Dario is whining about American tourists. Rather, I think he is saying, I didn't believe this when it happened, and I just have to share it with someone. Let's face it, tourists can be boors, and I am just about willing to believe that American tourists are among the most boorish. Reading about these boors and laughing at them is far more entertaining than having to suffer them in person. I fully believe that Dario always acted like a gentleman while leading the tours. He is proud of his country and wanted to provide a special touring experience, i.e., small groups getting his personal views. He talks about his struggles to get established, and shares very personal and precious insights into Italian culture and history. I am so excited that he has a new book coming out. I enjoyed this one thoroughly.
 A bit too much... April 29, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I agree with some of the reviewers that this book is a bit insulting to Americans, however to give the author credit, he does tell stories of Americans he has become fond of, even lifelong friends with.
And that's pretty much what this book is - a bunch of stories. Some better than others. I think Mr. Castagno may have actually created some fictional characters to make the story interesting. Or at least embellished on a few things.
For example, the story about the 40ish year old lawyer, Chet, who is travelling with his father and his step-mother (or his father's "trophy wife") who is in her 20's. The author talks about how she treats Chet like a baby "tucking in his napkin" and "cutting his meat for him". Also when Chet shows the author an "ancient coin" that he bought from a street vendor in Rome (with the date 42 B.C. on it) the author is applalled that Chet actually thinks it is authentic. I mean - come on!! I find this story a little hard to believe. This Chet is an attorney!
There are some more interesting stories and I'm sure some of the American ignorance is true (ex. the lady who thought "Circa" was a Renaissance painter, and the woman who had no idea who the Etruscans were), but I thought the book would be funnier. The part about the history of the Palio was informative. The remainder just cosi cosi.
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