A Thousand Bells at Noon: A Roman's Guide to the Secrets and Pleasures of His Native City

An expatriate Roman vividly brings to life his native city, in this stunning travel guide that captures all of Rome's charms and contradictions, from the beautiful churches and palazzos to the small apartments and crowded streets.

Despite the subtitle, this book wavers too much between guidebook and memoir, coming up short in both. Romagnoli, a former restaurateur, who starred with his wife in the mid-1970s' television show The Romagnolis' Table, and who published a bestselling cookbook by the same title, left Rome at age 26. What little narrative exists here concerns a six-month return trip that Romagnoli, now widowed and remarried in his 70s, makes to rediscover the city of his youth. In 13 essays with titles such as "Managing Rome" and "Faith in Rome," the author unleashes a torrent of generalized information about history, government, architecture and transportation, among other topics. But Romagnoli relies too much on cliches: Romans are loud and like to exaggerate; Roman men are mama's boys; Romans are obsessed with fashion; Roman bureaucrats are lazy and take bribes. The author's favorite idea is "Rome is a paradox," which is restated repeatedly. Most disappointing is the section "Eating in Rome" one might expect stronger food writing from someone with Romagnoli's background. The book is most compelling when Romagnoli cuts loose from the deluge of information and shares some personal experiences, such as his dinner with a former schoolmate who he once saved from drowning; his recollections of eating "day-fresh" eggs as a child; and his accounts of working as a young cinematographer in the early days of Cinecitte, the famed epicenter of Italian cinema. In his prologue, Romagnoli gives his reason for undertaking his trip: "I realized that all I knew of Rome was her skin, what can be seen and found in a thousand guidebooks." Sadly, there is too little of the intimate experience that Romagnoli clearly knows, and the information he provides rarely goes beyond what one can find in a decent guidebook.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

An accomplished chef, restaurateur, and documentary filmmaker rediscovers the extraordinary delights of his native Rome after an extended, decades-long absence. Although standard travel guides focus on Rome's infinite number of prominent and offbeat tourist sights, Romagnoli concentrates on the people, the feelings, the shared history, and the unique culture that epitomizes a less tangible, far more tantalizing aspect of Rome. By contemplating and analyzing the city's human texture, he provides an insider's view into the central core of one of the world's urban treasures. While strolling through the districts and streets of his beloved Roma, he encounters and interviews countless natives willing to share their unique perspective on the Roman persona and lifestyle. Both the Rome of antiquity and the modern city are well represented in this distinctive tribute. Margaret Flanagan
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