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Index
November 2009
Review: French: French Women Don’t Get Fat: The Secret of Eating for Pleasure by Mireille Guiliano
Review: Italian: Il conto delle minne by Giuseppina Torregrossae
Go to the Poetry Rooms:
French: L’âme poétique de nos écoles
Italian: Sala delle Poesie
Spanish: El Rincón Poético
FRENCH
French Women Don’t Get Fat: The Secret of Eating for Pleasure, 2005
Guiliano, Mireille
Vintage Books, New York
 This is definitely not your usual diet book. It is actually an amusing and informative book on the major cultural differences between France and the United States with food as the primary focus.
Giuliano grew up in France, married an American, and has spent her adulthood between France and the US. She understands both cultures well. Her book is addressed primarily to American women but anyone interested in French culture will find it worth reading. The author not only shares her secrets, known by all French women, about how to stay thin, but she also tells us how to truly enjoy life.
She begins by stating that “French women simply do not suffer the terror of kilos that afflicts so many of their American sisters.” The bottom line is that French women “eat with their heads, and they do not leave the table feeling stuffed or guilty.” Read this delightful book and discover the meaning of the French Paradox. You will also find many delicious authentic French recipes. And, the greatest reward of all, you will learn how to change the rhythm of your life and savor life’s pleasures more intensely. Life should not be all work. It is also to be enjoyed without guilt!
- Recommended by Christine Foster Meloni, Culture Club Editor
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ITALIAN
Il conto delle minne, 2009
Torregrossa, Giuseppina
Mondadori Editore, Milano
 Ogni anno, il 5 febbraio, nonna Agata prepara le cassatelle in onore della santa di cui porta il nome. Vuole accanto a sé la nipote Agatina per insegnarle i segreti della preparazione dei dolcetti a forma di seno, le minne.
“Il conto delle minne,” non si stancava di ripetere nonna Agata, “dev'essere pari: due seni, e due dolci, per ogni fanciulla. Ma la vita è imprevedibile e il seno, morbido viatico di gioia e nutrimento, può celare in sé anche la malattia e il disamore: i conti, allora, potrebbero non tornare...”
Un romanzo tutto al femminile, dove biografia, tradizione, invenzione si mescolano insieme dando al lettore il piacere di leggere nella vita privata della famiglia di Agata e della Sicilia dell’ultimo secolo.
Torregrossa (Palermo, 1956) vive tra la Sicilia e Roma, dove ha lavorato per più di vent'anni come ginecologa e si occupa attivamente della prevenzione e cura dei tumori al seno. Nel 2007 ha pubblicato il suo primo romanzo, L'assaggiatrice (Iride - Rubbettino). Con il monologo teatrale Adele (Borgia Editore) ha vinto nel 2008 il premio opera prima "Donne e teatro" di Roma.
- Recommended by Cetti Mangano, Co-Editor, Italian Book Reviews
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October 2009
Announcement: German Author Wins 2009 Nobel Prize for Literature
Italian: Ad Occhi Chiusi by Gianrico Carofiglio
Spanish: Radio Ciudad Perdida by Daniel Alarcón
Lesson Plan: Writing Cinquains
ANNOUNCEMENT: German Author Wins 2009 Nobel Prize for Literature
The Nobel Prize for Literature for 2009 was awarded to German author Herta Műller. The Swedish Academy declared that Müller, “with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed.” Born in a German-speaking town in Romania in 1953, she left her country in 1987 because she was not allowed to publish her books there as she was highly critical of the Ceausescu regime. Germany became the adopted country of Müller and her husband.
The following books by Műller have been translated into English. We would welcome reviews of these books by our readers. Contact Christine.
Everything I own I carry With Me (Working English Title for Atemschaukel). Hanser Verlag, Munich: 2009
The Appointment, translated by Michael Hulse and Phillip Boehm. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2001
Traveling on One Leg, translated by Valentina Glajar and Andre LeFevere. Evanston, Hydra Books/Northwestern University Press, 1998
Nadirs, translated by Sieglinde Lug. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999
The Land of Green Plums, translated by Michael Hofmann. New York: Metropolitan Books, 1996
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ITALIAN
Ad Occhi Chiusi
Carofiglio, Gianrico
Sellerio Editore, Palermo
2004
Ad Occhi chiusi è un libro scorrevole, con un linguaggio semplice ed avvincente. Il protagonista è l’avvocato Guerrieri a cui ogni tanto piomba una pratica di quelle che non portano né soldi né gloria ma solo guai. Questa volta riguarda una giovane donna perseguitata dal suo ex- fidanzato e che nessun avvocato vuole rappresentare per le persone imponenti che vi sono implicate.
L’autore Gianrico Carofiglio è nato a Bari nel 1961 dove è sostituto procuratore antimafia presso la Procura. É autore di diversi testi di diritto e di diversi romanzi. Con l’avvocato Guerrieri come protagonista, ha pubblicato: Testimone inconsapevole (Sellerio, 2002), vincitore di numerosi premi; Ad occhi chiusi (Sellerio 2003) e Ragionevoli dubbi (Sellerio, 2006).
- Recommended by Cetti Mangano
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SPANISH
Radio Ciudad Perdida, 2007
Daniel Alarcón, Alfaguara
Está disponible en amazon.com
Radio Ciudad Perdida, la primera novela en español por Daniel Alarcón, tiene lugar en un país latinoamericano sin nombre ni lugar, y le presenta al lector un vistazo de cómo era vivir durante las guerras civiles de la última mitad del siglo XX. La rutina de la vida, la desesperación de no saber lo que pasó a los familiares y a los amigos desaparecidos, la esperanza de que ellos vayan a aparecer en cualquier momento, la traición y la fidelidad, la pobreza y la carencia de lo necesario para vivir, y el optimismo para un futuro seguro – todo está presente en esta obra magnífica.
Un programa de radio llamada “Radio Ciudad Perdida” es el enlace entre la gente separada por la guerra hace varios años. Por varios métodos no explorados en la novela, la gente descubre el destino de la gente perdida. Concentra en la vida de la locutora y varias personas que tocan su vida.
El tiempo va y viene como las memorias van y vienen, a veces en el presente y a veces en el pasado. El punto de vista cambia de un personaje a otro para dar al lector un vistazo más completo de las condiciones bajo las cuales vivía la gente durante y después de las guerras.
El terror de estar hallado, el terror de estar solo, el terror de no tener casa ni comida, contrasten con la vida normal de una ciudad y un pueblo en la selva. La rutina de la vida continúa: el autobús le lleva al trabajo, la gente se reúne en la plaza, las mercancías llegan por barco, los niños juegan en el bosque.
Aunque pudiera ser una novela bastante deprimida y negativa, el lector cierra los cubiertos con un sentido de paz, que las cosas se resuelven y que la tranquilidad y normalidad regresan. El lenguaje es poesía en prosa, las descripciones de los lugares son tan claras como una fotografía, y los sentimientos interiores de los personajes proyectan sobre todo. Fue un placer leer esta novela y les recomienda con entusiasmo.
- Recommended by Sheila Cockey, Spanish Language Book Review Editor
Radio Ciudad Perdida, 2007
Daniel Alarcón, Alfaguara
Available at amazon.com
Radio Ciudad Perdida, the first novel in Spanish by Daniel Alarcón, takes place in a nameless Latin American country and allows the reader to have a glimpse of what it was like to live during the era of the late 20th century civil wars. The routine of daily life, the desperation of not knowing what happened to family members and friends, the hope that those who disappeared will reappear at any moment, the betrayal and loyalty, poverty and lack of life’s necessary things, and the optimism for a safe future – all is present in this magnificent work.
A radio program, “Radio Ciudad Perdida,” is the link that joins all the people who have been separated by the war through the years. By various means that are not explored in the novel, the characters discover the destiny of their lost people. The novel concentrates on the broadcaster and the people who touch her life.
Time comes and goes just as memories come and go, at times in the present and at times in the past. The point of view changes from one character to another in order to give the reader a more complete view of the conditions under which the people lived during and after the wars.
The terror of being found, the terror of being alone, the terror of not having a home or food, contrast with the normal life of a city and a village in the jungle. Daily life’s routines continue: the bus takes people to work, people gather in the plaza, goods arrive on a river boat, children play in the forest.
Although the novel could be extremely depressing and negative, the reader closes the covers with a feeling of peace, that things will resolve themselves, and that normalcy and calm will return. The language of the novel is poetry in prose, the descriptions of places are as clear as a photograph, and the personal, intimate feelings of the characters project themselves over everything. It was a pleasure to read this novel and I enthusiastically recommend it.
- Recommended by Sheila Cockey, Spanish Language Book Review Editor
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July 2009
French: The Story of French by Jean-Benoit and Julie Barlow
Italian: Life and Works: Verdi by Jeremy Siepmann
Spanish: Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy by Carlos Eire
FRENCH
The Story of French, 2006
Nadeau, Jean-Benoit and Barlow, Julie
New York: St. Martin’s Press
466 pages including appendices and bibliography
Although this book is not written in French, it is about French and will be of interest to anyone who wants to know more about the French language and French culture.
The authors are bilingual Canadian journalists living in Montreal who set out to explain why French is a global language (the other global language) and why it will probably remain so for a long time to come.
They cover a broad expanse of time and territory in this book, from Charlemagne to Cirque de Soleil. The book is thorough and well documented. As I read it, I learned a great deal about linguistics, history, geography, politics, urbanization, religion, psychology, literature. You name it. This book covers it all. And, to boot, I learned a lot about my native language, English.
I could not recommend this fascinating book more highly. It is a treasure.
- Recommended by Christine Foster Meloni, Culture Club Editor
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ITALIAN
Life and Works: Verdi (2003)
Siepmann, Jeremy (author and narrator)
4 CDs and a 124-page booklet
Label: Naxos Educational
Language of text: English
Language of lyrics: Italian
Availability: amazon.com; Barnes & Noble
What a wonderful way to "read" a biography of the great Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi! I chanced upon this marvelous audio book in my local public library and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Italian culture and/or opera. As I listened to the story of Verdi’s fascinating life, I was treated to frequent excerpts from his operas. The first opera I ever experienced was "Aida" and Verdi has been my favorite composer ever since. Fortunately, he was an artist who had great success and fame during his life time and his biography makes for very entertaining reading.
- Recommended by Christine Foster Meloni, Culture Club Editor
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SPANISH
Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy (2003)
Eire, Carlos
New York: Free Press
Language: English
Eire has written a moving and informative memoir. He is a man caught between the Cuban culture of his early childhood and the American culture of his late childhood and adulthood. He was living a typical upper-class life in Havana until Castro took over. Shortly thereafter, in 1962, he was one of 14,000 children airlifted to the US and exiled from his family and his country. It was a dramatic turning point in his personal life and that of his country.
The language of the book is English but I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in modern history in general and in the Spanish-speaking world, in particular.
- Recommended by Christine Foster Meloni, Culture Club Editor
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March 2009
FRENCH
My life in France (Ma vie en France)
Julia Child
New York: Random House
2007
 I am a vegetarian. I don’t like to cook. So why would I want to read a book by Julia Child? I came upon this book by pure chance. I had just visited the newly-reopened Museum of American History in Washington and seen Julia’s kitchen. (She had donated it to the Smithsonian.) I must admit I was fascinated, primarily because of the one wall that was completely covered with knives of every type and size imaginable. That would have been the end of it but, the following day, I went to my local library, looking for an audio book. One title caught my eye: My life in France by Julia Child. There she was again! Having developed a passion myself for Italy, I was curious to know the origin of her passion for France so I checked it out.
I was intrigued, not so much by her detailed descriptions of how she prepared her recipes (many of them requiring animals or sea creatures of various sorts) but by her descriptions of the French and her sojourns in Paris and Marseilles. She was certainly in love with France and everything French. This book ought to be of interest to anyone who wants to learn more about France – and, of course, about food. Julia herself was a most interesting person with very strong views on a number of issues other than cuisine.
- Recommended by Christine Foster Meloni, Culture Club Editor
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January 2009
German: Kalt ist der Abendhauch
Ingrid Noll by Ingrid Noll
Italian: Tu, Mio by Erri de Luca
Norwegian: He Who Fears the Wolf by Karin Fossum
French: American Vertigo: traveling America in the Footsteps of Tocqueville by Bernard-Henri Lévy
GERMAN
Kalt ist der Abendhauch
Ingrid Noll
Diogenes
1999
 Told as a first-person narrative and containing a mixture of flashbacks and contemporary events, Kalt ist der Abendhauch (= Cold Is the Evening Breeze) tells the story of Charlotte and Hugo, two lovers who first meet in the late 1920s but never manage to live together permanently. As the novel opens, eighty-three-year-old Charlotte is expecting a visit from eighty-eight-year-old Hugo, whom she has not seen for several years. As she awaits his arrival, she recalls her life as a young woman living in Darmstadt during the early days of the Nazi regime, remembering the events that led up to her falling in love with Hugo (who marries her sister Ida) and her various experiences in post-war Germany. Since Ida is now no longer living, Charlotte and Hugo have the chance to surrender themselves unconditionally to their love for each other. Will they be able to rekindle their passion? Or have Charlotte and Hugo missed their chance at happiness? Will the problems of old age turn their dream into a ridiculous farce? And what gruesome incident in their past comes back to haunt them? How do family members react to Charlotte and Hugo’s on-again, off-again love affair?
Since 1991, Ingrid Noll has penned several works of crime fiction—each successfully blending suspense, historical detail, quirky characters, and an understanding of human emotions and weaknesses. As a sign of Noll’s widespread appeal, her novels have been translated into all major languages.
-Recommended by David Witkosky, German Language Book Review Editor
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ITALIAN
Tu, Mio
Erri de Luca
Feltrinelli, Milan
1998
 The protagonist of this coming-of-age novel set in the 1950s is a 15-year-old city boy who spends the summer on an island off the coast of Italy. He learns how to fish, he hears war stories from a man who was a soldier on the Russian front, and meets a mysterious girl who attends high school in Switzerland. He gradually matures and is a different person when he leaves the island at the end of the summer to return to his normal life. It is a beautifully told story on a universal theme.
- Recommended by Christine Foster Meloni, Culture Club Editor
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NORWEGIAN
Den som frykter ulven (He Who Fears the Wolf)
Karin Fossum
Harvill Secker
1997
Harcourt 2003 (English translation)
 An elderly woman is found brutally murdered at her isolated house in the woods. The prime suspect is Errki, a loner who has just escaped from a mental asylum. Kannick, a 12-year-old boy, reports that he saw Errki in the vicinity soon after the murder. But is Kannick a credible witness? He lives in a home for delinquent boys.
After his escape, Errki goes into town and enters a bank where a robbery is in progress. The robber is a demented young man named Morgan who takes Errki hostage as he leaves the bank. The two end up in a vacant house in the woods not far from the murder scene. The situation is very tense as they warily try to understand each other and attempt to form an uneasy alliance in order to elude detection.
Meanwhile, the serious and compassionate Inspector Sejer pursues the case, trying to locate Errki and the bank robber, at first not realizing that they are together.
A comment on the book jacket sums up the essence of this fascinating book: “Fossum once again provides extraordinary insight into marginalized lives and richly evokes the atmosphere she captured so brilliantly in Don’t Look Back.”
- Recommended by Christine Foster Meloni, Culture Club Editor
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FRENCH
American Vertigo: traveling America in the Footsteps of Tocqueville
Lévy, Bernard-Henri
Random House, New York, 2006
Download review in French and English
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