Published by Globe Pequot, 2007, hardcover, 230 pages, apart from no dustjacket condition is as new.
This second book from Dario Castagno is a delightfully honest mix of memoirs from life in the hills of Tuscany's legendary Chianti region. Set on the day the author arrived home after a three-month tour of the United States promoting his first book, A Day in Tuscany compels readers to experience this enchanted corner of Italy through the heart and mind of a true Tuscan. As Castagno sees his beloved hills with fresh eyes and reacquaints himself with the rhythms of home, a flood of recollections of its people and places come to him. Through his engaging narrative, we are transported as well.
The sights he sees and people he meets as he takes a one-mile walk through his village during the course of this noteworthy day trigger memories of his childhood and adolescence in Tuscany during the seventies, his experiences as a tour guide in Chianti, and some of the more remarkable people he has known. In addition to stories from his own past, included are oral histories from several village elders. History and the present mingle in this part of the world, and these stories bring both alive. Sometimes funny, often poignant, A Day in Tuscany weaves a magical spell and offers a candid insider's look at the people and culture of a fascinating land.
A Day in Tuscany picks up where Dario Castagno's much-loved, best-selling memoir Too Much Tuscan Sun leaves offquite literally as the amiable tour-guide-turned-author returns from his first-ever American book tour. As Dario wakes up back in his beloved village after three hectic months in the United States, he sees his surroundings with fresh eyes and reacquaints himself with the rhythms of home: The day after I returned . . . something magical occurred, he writes. "As I wandered my home territory, reconnecting with familiar sights, sounds, aromas, and (especially) friends and neighbors, I began to realize just how rich my life here is." And so begins his day in Tuscany. Past and present mingle as Dario takes a leisurely stroll around his village, visiting with friends and neighbors, always ready to accept a glass of wine and share storiesof his growing up in Tuscany in the 1970s and his adventures as a tour guide. We meet some of the more remarkable people he has known, including the many locals he gently prods into telling tales of their lives and times. Funny, poignant, intimate, and authentic, and peopled with a rich cast of unforgettable characters, A Day in Tuscany is an enchanting mix of memories from life in Tuscany's legendary Chianti regiona place where the everyday is still infused with magic.
