Ciao, America!: An Italian Discovers the U.S.-Quality Guarantee

Description

In the wry but affectionate tradition of Bill Bryson, Ciao, America! is a delightfullook at America through the eyes of a fiercely funny guest—one of Italy’s favoriteauthors who spent a year in Washington, D.C.

When Beppe Severgnini and his wiferented a creaky house in Georgetown they were determined to see if they could adaptto a full four seasons in a country obsessed with ice cubes, air-conditioning, reclinerchairs, and, of all things, after-dinner cappuccinos. From their first encounterswith cryptic rental listings to their back-to-Europe yard sale twelve months later,Beppe explores this foreign land with the self-described patience of a mildly inappropriatebeachcomber, holding up a mirror to America’s signature manners and his surroundings day by day, he and his wife find themselves developing a tastefor Klondike bars and Samuel Adams beer, and even that most peculiar of Americaninstitutions—the pancake house.

The realtor who waves a perfect bye-bye, theoverzealous mattress salesman who bounces from bed to bed, and the plumber namedMarx who deals in illegally powerful showerheads are just a few of the better-than-fictioncharacters the Severgninis encounter while foraging for clues to the real America.A trip to the computer store proves just as revealing as D.C.’s Fourth of July celebration,as do boisterous waiters angling for tips and no-parking signs crammed with a dozenlines of fine print.

By the end of his visit, Severgnini has come to grips withlife in these United States—and written a charming, laugh-out-loud tribute.