As the Romans Do: An American Family's Italian Odyssey Paperback – June 5, 2001

fun read

From cover to cover, I was gripped by this enchanting account of Alan Epstein's life in Rome. I have no idea why many of the other reviewers are so bitter and sarcastic, but put it down to jealousy. So what if Alan and Diane had a little $ to spare to furnish their apartment beautifully? They earned it, didn't they? I say "Good for them!" The book read to me like a novel. Having spent some time in Rome myself, I can relate to virtually everything Alan has written...the classic beauty of the women (and men) and their ability to make even jeans and a T-shirt look chic, the remarkable "culture" of food, the simplicities and complexities of everyday life. I particularly enjoyed the writing style and found this book far less egotistical that the rash of Provence and Tuscany books out there. (If you want ego...read Mayle.) Thanks Alan and Diane. I hope there are more "Rome" books in the works!

This is my favorite book about Italian culture. I have bought it for any friend who plans a trip to Italy. There is so much to laugh over and be amused. The Italians and their Bella Figura is absolutely true!

I lived in Italy for a number of years and this book is a ... trip back to so many places, people and daily activities that I found so enjoyable in the first place. It rings true to life and captures the flavor, spirit and color of Roma and her people.

Had I read this book before moving to Italy, I wouldn't have believed all the details...living here now and having enjoyed this reading I find it helpful to know Italy is as I am experiencing it. A fun and entertaining book, well worth reading. Alan Epstein allows you to feel and enjoy the charms of living in Italy as an Expatriate. I highly recommend it to anyone moving here, anyone who knows someone living here, anyone curious at all about living in Italy, and wrapping this up-that should leave out...no one.

I liked the book. Gave good insight into Rome and Italian culture life. Easy read.

Lots of talk about how sexy Roman women are (and how flirtatious, and how much cleavage, and what great fishnet stockings, and on and on). Lots of stories where nothing much happens (he looks for a piano lesson book for his son at one store after another and no one has it, and then after all day looking, his piano teacher has found an extra copy - serendipity! Or a bunch of Romans show up late to a meeting, argue for an hour, then remember it's time for dinner and miraculously all agree on the solution, which by his own lights would have been a five-minute non-affair in any of the northern European countries he likes to pick on).Speaking of which, there is an awful lot of casual, superficial dismissal of both his hometown, San Francisco, and America in general (too greedy, too uptight, too career-focused, and so on) without any corresponding criticism of Rome. The little peccadilloes he does mention -- like men not doing anything AT ALL to help domestically and instead playing cards outside with their buddies until their wives call them for dinner, or vendors never having enough change to actually do business in cash, all the while insisting on doing business in cash, or showing up late to everything, or not having a common introductory piano book in stock in a music store, or people throwing garbage out on the street, etc. -- these are all dismissed with a wave of the hand, like "isn't that cute - those crazy Romans!" Not that I was hoping he'd bash the Romans, but he could certainly be more evenhanded.

Dr. Epstein’s writing is very descriptive, painting Roma in all its glory. It captivated me (having spent a semester in Roma during college 38 years ago). I enjoyed every chapter.