ONE THING STOLEN: a single copy available to a U.S. reader
Sunday, October 19, 2014
I invite those who are interested to leave a comment indicating one thing you most associate with Florence—a building, a landscape feature, an icon, a dish, a way of walking, a kind of weather, anything. I will then attempt to write a blog post referencing every single comment.
(I anticipate a mean mind twister.)
The winner will be randomly chosen on November 15th.
Perhaps you wonder why I have just one copy to give away? The answer is that I've been busy creating packages for the many people who helped make this book a reality.
Dr. Bruce Miller, for example, of the University of California-San Francisco Memory and Aging Center, who shed light on the disease that my young Nadia faces.
Emily Rosner and Maurizio Panichi, whom I met in the Florence bookstore, Paperback Exchange, and who helped me understand the 1966 flooding of the Arno and the Mud Angels who came to the rescue; Maurizio's own experiences are woven through this story.
Laura Gori, who directs the Scuola del Cuoio, and where I learned the art of leather working from a master.
Mike Cola, a dear friend and Renaissance man, who talked to me about birds.
Kathy Coffey, who sent, through the mail, the book that I needed, following her own trip to Florence.
My brother-in-law, Mario, who helped me with translations.
Wendy Robards, who read early on and kept me grounded.
My students Katie Goldrath and Maggie Ercolani, who deeply inspired me.
And a few others.
Leaving me with one galley for posterity's sake and one for one of you.
I hope you'll let me know of your interest.
18 comments:
I associate Florence with the trip my husband (the art major) and I will take to Italy before this decade is over--I don't know when we'll go, but I'm working on learning some of the language for when we do. Oh, and tasty dishes made with spinach.
Oh, I so want to read this.
I associate Florence with (oddly enough) While You Were Sleeping, because it's where Sandra Bullock's character wants to go. "And there would be a stamp in my passport and it would say Italy on it!"
A statue of Bacchus that I saw there.
Hearing my sister's stories from Florence. She backpacked across Europe with her best friend when I was 12 and came home with the most wonderful and exciting stories for me.
Sitting on a cement slab that sloped down to the river, writing in my journal
The smell of the small leathergoods shop on the Ponte Vecchio bridge.
First I think of the group - Florence and the Machine...and then Italy which makes me think of my Uncle Bill...but as for Florence, Italy...a place I hope to go someday
A lovely woman with that name I first met around 8 years ago, who makes me feel hopeful about staying intellectually engaged at any age, under any circumstances, and being kind while you're at it.
I imagine outdoor cafes with hot waiters (who are working to pay for their art) and fantastic food & drink that set the scene for clumsy/ quirky meet-cutes. Florence romance for all!
Florence makes me think of being safe, after a harrowing experience in Rome. Florence was the city of Vespas and gelato and grinning Italian boys who offered my friend and I pizza and kindness, and took us to see a statue of David glowing alabaster in the night overlooking the countryside.
Florence is all about the art and architecture for me. I first learned of Florence in Italian class in college, and I've wanted to go ever since to see the Palazzo Vecchio and the Uffizi Gallery where the Birth of Venus is supposed to be. And I cannot forget the il Duomo! Never mind that one of my favorite movies, already mentioned in the comments, talks about going to Florence so the passport can have a stamp from Italy -- which is one of my dreams...but also, George Clooney was married there!
I associate Florence with my sister who was stationed in Italy for a couple of years with the US Navy. Although she wasn't in Florence specifically, she became a master at Italian wines and caprese!
I visited Florence 10 years ago and bought two small gold rings for my daughters on the Ponte Vecchio Bridge.
I took an art history class in high school and fell in love with all the buildings, so the first thing I think of when I think of Florence is their iconic cathedral. I love the white exterior, and especially the dome! (I seem to remember that there was something significant about that dome, but the details now escape me...)
Florence will always mean ART to me-- Renaissance art to be specific:) It's the art historian in me ;)
I've never been to Florence or known much about it, but I've heard amazing things about the nearby beaches.
Hello, Beth!
I don't know much about Florence, but in looking at the photos along the Arno River, I see similarities in the curved bridges along our own Schuylkill River. Even some of the stone buildings along the Arno mirror buildings along the Schuylkill, including a concrete-looking spillway on both rivers. Now I'm going to think of Florence when I see these details driving along the Schuylkill. Good luck with this book's launch. ~Victoria Marie Lees
I associate Florence with my mother, now gone, who was an artist. She fulfilled her lifelong dream of traveling around Italy while she still could.
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