As the Romans Do: An American Family's Italian Odyssey

by Alan Epstein

Release Date: 05 June, 2001

Edition: Paperback

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Some Insights, But You Have to Look for Them

I'm beginning to think that most travel essay books lately are written by wealthy men and women who have decided to sell their expensive homes and quit their well-paying jobs to move with their families to (insert location or around the world/country trip here). This book feels like one of those books. While Epstein gives some insights here and there about places and his observations of the people and daily life, sometimes it drags and it's more about what the Americans in Rome are doing vs. what the Romans do themselves.

My favorite book about Italy

Epstein let me vicariously experience the wonder of being an expatriate in Rome. His enthusiasm for his subject, his willingness to be honest (and even intimate with) his reader, and his near-childlike joy at his own wonderful good luck all helped the book succeed for me. I read it before I went to Rome for the first time, and the trip was richer for it.