Sicily   |   READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Essential Books These 5 items are available for $81, including
U.S. shipping, a 15% discount (Item no. EXITL396)		  
On Persephone's Island  •  Mary Taylor Simeti
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  1986 •  PAPER  • 352 PAGES
A richly detailed and personal portrait of Sicily by an American writer who settled on the island with her Sicilian husband in 1962 and stayed for 20 years. Strong on the delights of rural life, her book takes the form of a yearlong journal, capturing the spirit of the people and land. It provides a deep understanding of daily life and traditions -- an excellent antidote to persistent myths of mafiosos and backwards peasants. (ITL03, $14.95)		   On Persephone's Island
Midnight in Sicily, On Art, Food, History, Travel and La Cosa Nostra  •  Peter Robb
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2007 •  PAPER  • 400 PAGES • FAVORITE
A vivid report from Italy's glorious, corrupt and troubled south, this book combines interviews, journalism and essays on Sicilian history and culture. Robb focuses, in part, on the career of Giulio Andreotti, the seven-time prime minister of Italy recently accused of Mafia associations. (ITL74, $18.00)		   Midnight in Sicily, On Art, Food, History, Travel and La Cosa Nostra
The Leopard  •  Giuseppe Di Lampedusa
LITERATURE •  2007 •  PAPER  • 384 PAGES • FAVORITE
Evoking a lost world of privilege and tradition, Giuseppe Di Lampedusa's memorable tale, set on a rural Sicilian estate during the days of independence, follows the world-weary Don Fabrizio, Prince of Salina. Burt Lancaster starred in Visconti's terrific film version. This 50th anniversary edition includes new material and a forward by Lampedusa's adopted son. (ITL11, $16.00)		   The Leopard
Eyewitness Guide Sicily  •  Eyewitness Guides  •  DK Publishing
GUIDEBOOK •  2011 •  PAPER  • 256 PAGES
This superb guide to Sicily features color photography, dozens of excellent local maps and a synopsis of the island's attractions. Handsome, convenient and up-to-date, this is the guide to carry. (ITL468, $23.00)		   Eyewitness Guide Sicily
Sicily Map  •  Touring Club Italiano
2011 •  MAP
A traveler's map of Sicily at the very good scale of 1:200,000, ideal for anyone on a driving trip of the island. The detail is great if you don't mind folding it out to its full poster size. (The laminated version ITL20 conveniently gives you the island at a glance). Two Sides. 37x54 inches. (ITL181, $14.95)		   Sicily Map



Also Recommended

Blue Guide Sicily  •  Ellen Grady   • GUIDEBOOK  •  This in-depth guide to Sicily's ancient history and archaeology features detailed maps and site plans. (ITL125, $26.95)
 		  
Eat Smart in Sicily, How to Decipher the Menu, Know the Market Foods & Embark on a Tasting Adventure  •  Joan Peterson   • GUIDEBOOK  •  Discover the heart of Sicilian culture through its sumptuous cuisine with this pocket guide. (ITL911, $13.95)
 		  
Language and Travel Guide to Sicily  •  Giovanna Bellia LA Marca   • GUIDEBOOK  •  A practical guide to food, attractions and accommodations, helpfully paired with an extensive section on Italian and two audio CDs of popular Sicilian words and phrases. (ITL872, $29.95)
 		  
Sicilian Food  •  Mary Taylor Simeti   • FOOD  •  Mary Taylor Simeti (On Persephone's Island) includes a hundred archival illustrations and quotes freely from Homer, Plato, Apicius, Lampedusa, and Pirandello in this classic guide to the food, traditions and recipes of Sicily. (ITL127, $29.95)
 		  
Seeking Sicily, A Cultural Journey Through Myth and Reality in the Heart of the Mediterranean  •  John Keahey   • CULTURAL PORTRAIT  •  Taken with Sicily, its culture and its literature, Kehey explores the food, history and pure pleasure of the place, using his heroes Giuseppe di Lampedusa, Leonardo Sciascia and other of Sicily's literary greats as a his guide (ITA274, $27.99)
 		  
Sicily, An Illustrated History  •  Joseph Privitera   • HISTORY  •  Privitera covers the scope of Sicily and its diverse civilizations in lively prose and well-chosen illustrations in this succinct history. (ITA158, $12.95)
 		  
The Sicilian Vespers, A History of the Mediterranean World in the Later Thirteenth Century  •  Steven Runciman   • HISTORY  •  A spellbinding history of the 13th-century Kingdom of Sicily. The massacre of the French at Palermo, known as the Sicilian Vespers, is the springboard for the author's sweeping depiction of the Mediterranean in the late 1200s. (ITL295, $25.00)
 		  
Ancient Sicily, Monuments Past & Present  •  G. Messineo  •  E. Borgia   • ARCHAEOLOGY  •  In this illuminating overview, ingenious overlays depict 17 important sites as they appear today and how they may have appeared in the past. (ITL733, $29.95)
 		  
Archaeology of Ancient Sicily  •  R. Ross Holloway   • ARCHAEOLOGY  •  A concise, marvelously lucid history of the civilizations and archaeology of Sicily from the Paleolithic to the Romans. With illustrations, site diagrams and maps. (ITL521, $47.95)
 		  
Palermo  •  Roberto Alajmo   • TRAVEL NARRATIVE  •  In this charming little book, Alajmo offers a wry, lyrical portrait of his native city, its people, charms and "big problems." (ITA212, $19.95)
 		  
Palmento, A Sicilian Wine Odyssey  •  Robert V. Camuto   • TRAVEL NARRATIVE  •  Camuto visits vineyards and vintners from Palermo to Marsala and the rugged slopes of Etna in this year-long celebration of the culture and spirit of Italy's largest and oldest wine region. An American journalist living in France (his previous book Corkscrewed was about the new French winemakers), Camuto is an astute, entertaining guide to the diversity of Sicily itself. (ITA205, $18.95)
 		  
Sicilian Carousel  •  Lawrence Durrell   • TRAVEL NARRATIVE  •  Durrell writes with warmth and grace of his journey around the island in the 1950s. (ITL08, $12.00)
 		  
That Summer In Sicily, A Love Story  •  Marlena de Blasi   • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR  •  De Blasi writes beautifully as she unfolds the true story of a remarkable Sicilian woman, once mistress to a prince. It's both a suspenseful love story and a glimpse of local history. (ITL954, $15.00)
 		  
Divorce, Italian Style  •  Pietro Germi   • LITERATURE  •  A bored upper-class Sicilian (the brilliant Marcello Mastroianni) has grown tired of his wife and would rather marry his attractive cousin. Unfortunately, divorce is illegal in Italy. Therefore, he decides to find a lover for his wife and murder her out of jealousy. A hilarious farce about love and marriage. Nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Actor. (ITA262, $39.95)
 		  
Sicily, Through Writers' Eyes  •  Claire Horatio   • ANTHOLOGY  •  Homer, Herodotus, D.H. Lawrence, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and Elio Vittorini Peter Robb are also represented in this magnificent tour of Sicily, its history, culture and allure. (ITL780, $33.95)
 		  
Sometimes the Soul, Two Novellas of Sicily  •  Gioia Timpanelli   • LITERATURE  •  Timpanelli reworks ancient Sicilian tales into two captivating modern novellas; one, "Ruesna, Not Quite Love" is a lyrical retelling of "Beauty and the Beast," set against the rustic backdrop of rural Sicily. (ITL113, $15.00)
 		  
The Day of the Owl  •  Leonardo Sciascia  •  Archibald Colquhoun  •  Arthur Oliver  •  George Scialabba   • LITERATURE  •  A mesmerizing description of the Mafia at work, Sciascia's beautifully paced novella traces Captain Bellodi's investigation of a man shot dead as he runs to catch a bus in a small Sicilian town. (ITL596, $12.95)
 		  
The Ruby in Her Navel, A Novel of Love and Intrigue in the 12th Century  •  Barry Unsworth   • LITERATURE  •  Unsworth transports the reader to the 12th century in this richly imagined novel of love and intrigue set in Norman Sicily, where Christian knights, Anatolian belly dancers, Jews and Arabs mix and mingle. (ITL760, $14.95)
 		  
The Shape of Water  •  Andrea Camilleri   • MYSTERY  •  The first of Camilleri's wildly popular Inspector Montalbano mysteries, nicely translated and shot through (pun intended) with not just memorable characters but also with Sicilian lore and politics. If you like the series, it continues in 12 more installments -- and counting. (ITL528, $14.00)
 		  
The Wine-Dark Sea  •  Leonardo Sciascia  •  Avril Bardoni  •  Alberto Mobilio   • LITERATURE  •  A collection of 13 stories, all set in the celebrated writer's native Sicily and featuring mafiosi, carabinieri and villagers. (ITL408, $12.95)
 		  
 
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