
Becoming Italian
through Family, Food, and Life in the South
No se pudo agregar al carrito
Add to Cart failed.
Error al Agregar a Lista de Deseos.
Error al eliminar de la lista de deseos.
Error al añadir a tu biblioteca
Error al seguir el podcast
Error al dejar de seguir el podcast
Compra ahora por $7.50
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrado por:
-
Virtual Voice
-
De:
-
Bret Thoman

Este título utiliza narración de voz virtual
Acerca de esta escucha
Initially drawn to Florence to study the language and explore his Italian ancestry, he feels a lure to the less touristy South. In the slower half of Italy, dialects are spoken, America is still revered, and lazy lunches are the high point of the day. In the beginning, Bret had more questions than answers. What was it about forming a single-file line that was so difficult? Why did drivers race through the ancient streets on their Vespas and take so long to do everything else? What was it about shop owners who never wanted to write receipts? What was it about air currents? Was air conditioning really harmful to Italians’ health? And then there was the food. Lunch was so important that everything stopped for hours as family and friends left work, came together, shared a meal together, and rested afterward. Then, there was soccer. Italians’ pride in their food was rivaled only by their national sport.
In the second part of the book, Bret introduces us to his family as he meets his wife, marries, and discovers the authentic part of Southern Italy as experienced through his in-laws. You’ll smile and chuckle as his mother-in-law teaches him the secrets of Italian cooking and laugh out loud as he is educated in Italy’s rigid Food Rules and the dangers of ice and open windows. More moving are the family scenarios, such as the births of his children in the Italian hospital system.
In the third section, Bret recounts more of the joys and vexations of living in Italy. While mundane events like going to the post office, getting a driver’s license, and paying taxes can be maddening due to chaotic government bureaucracy, in the end, Bret accepts the cultural idiosyncrasies of Italy as he is grateful for what the country has given him. Not only does he become an Italian citizen along the way, he is ultimately transformed by the “Sweet Life.” For the Italians have taught Bret the strength of community, the nourishing benefits of time and meals together, enduring friendships, and what it means to be part of a family. In the end, he has become Italian.
If you are curious about your own Italian roots, if Italy is your favorite destination, or if you enjoy wacky travel stories colored by the Italian spirit, you won’t want to miss this one. With an eye for the zany, awkward, and just plain ludicrous, this book will not disappoint.
Reviews:
"Filled with colorful stories, anecdotes, and travel experiences, ranging from historical to humorous, Bret relates his life and travel experiences in a fun and engaging way. A delightful and informative read." Bonnie, Reads and Writes
"A travel memoir that is comprehensive, witty, and enlightening. A fantastic compilation of personal stories that are easy to read and take mere moments to elicit a laugh. I loved this book and am so grateful Thoman is sharing la dolce vita with us." Asher Syed, Readers' Favorite
"A sincere and enjoyable account of how one man took a path from his home in Georgia to Italy to find love and family. Many rites of passage familiar to those of us who have willingly set upon the same journey that neatly form the chapters. Wonderfully insightful." Philip Curnow, blogger
"Grits and sweet tea meet lasagna and espresso in a selection of personal reflections and slice of life vignettes that are sure to please." Debby Giusti, USA TODAY Bestselling Author
"With an eye for the awkward and the ludicrous, makes for a fun read." Karl Keating, Bestselling author
"Interesting, touching, funny, and delightfully Italian!" Murray Bodo, bestselling author
Relacionado con este tema
-
The Answer Is No
- A Short Story
- De: Fredrik Backman, Elizabeth DeNoma - translator
- Narrado por: Stacy Gonzalez
- Duración: 1 h y 49 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone? Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.
-
-
Narrator doesn’t get Backman’s satire or rhythm
- De joey1603 en 12-01-24
De: Fredrik Backman, y otros
-
Born a Crime
- Stories from a South African Childhood
- De: Trevor Noah
- Narrado por: Trevor Noah
- Duración: 8 h y 44 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
In this award-winning Audible Studios production, Trevor Noah tells his wild coming-of-age tale during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa. It’s a story that begins with his mother throwing him from a moving van to save him from a potentially fatal dispute with gangsters, then follows the budding comedian’s path to self-discovery through episodes both poignant and comical.
-
-
Great book and perfect narration
- De MarilynArms en 12-15-16
De: Trevor Noah
-
Slaughterhouse-Five
- De: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrado por: James Franco
- Duración: 5 h y 13 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
Traumatized by the bombing of Dresden at the time he had been imprisoned, Pilgrim drifts through all events and history, sometimes deeply implicated, sometimes a witness. He is surrounded by Vonnegut's usual large cast of continuing characters (notably here the hack science fiction writer Kilgore Trout and the alien Tralfamadorians, who oversee his life and remind him constantly that there is no causation, no order, no motive to existence).
-
-
Don't Quit Your Daytime Job, James
- De Keith en 11-20-15
De: Kurt Vonnegut
-
Stranded
- De: Chris Bruno, David Howard Lee, Shukri R. Abdi
- Narrado por: Taraji P. Henson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Blake Griffin, y otros
- Duración: 2 h y 7 m
- Grabación Original
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
Separated by 10 years, 3,000 miles, and the unrelenting stresses of adulthood, best friends Janet and Serena plan a 40th birthday girls’ trip to reconnect. But after a massive crash, they’re the only survivors to wash ashore on an uncharted Caribbean Island. Armed with only the clothes on their backs and zero survival skills, they fight to overcome hunger, thirst, deadly wildlife—and most terrifyingly—decades of accrued resentment. Can they find their way home, or will they kill each other first?
-
-
Get ready to Laugh
- De Lasheree McFarlane en 11-08-24
De: Chris Bruno, y otros
-
The Best Man's Ghostwriter
- De: Matthew Starr
- Narrado por: Glen Powell, Nicholas Braun, Ashley Park, y otros
- Duración: 4 h y 37 m
- Grabación Original
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
A bad best man’s speech can ruin a wedding. Why do we plan every detail of a perfect day and then give the groom’s idiot best friend five minutes of total power? Enter Nate (Glen Powell), a speechwriter-for-hire who helps people write incredible best man speeches. To keep the best man from embarrassing himself (and the newlyweds), Nate uses his list of don’ts: Don’t mention the exes, don’t be rated R, and don’t bum everyone out. Nate’s system never fails. That is, until he meets Dan (Nicholas Braun).
-
-
SO GOOD
- De Csutty en 09-23-24
De: Matthew Starr
-
Mel & Sue: Should Know By Now
- De: Mel Giedroyc, Sue Perkins
- Narrado por: Mel Giedroyc, Sue Perkins
- Duración: 3 h y 30 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
We all have things in our life that we should know by now, but don’t. Absences in our knowledge and skillset that are frankly shameful in an adult. Things that would be too embarrassing to ask anyone to explain – except our very best friend. Listen in as Mel and Sue tackle their ignorance head on, asking each other to explain something that they still don’t know - but absolutely, as adults, should - from how to parallel park to fully understanding bread (why has it got all those holes in it? What, honestly, is yeast?).
De: Mel Giedroyc, y otros
-
The Answer Is No
- A Short Story
- De: Fredrik Backman, Elizabeth DeNoma - translator
- Narrado por: Stacy Gonzalez
- Duración: 1 h y 49 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone? Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.
-
-
Narrator doesn’t get Backman’s satire or rhythm
- De joey1603 en 12-01-24
De: Fredrik Backman, y otros
-
Born a Crime
- Stories from a South African Childhood
- De: Trevor Noah
- Narrado por: Trevor Noah
- Duración: 8 h y 44 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
In this award-winning Audible Studios production, Trevor Noah tells his wild coming-of-age tale during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa. It’s a story that begins with his mother throwing him from a moving van to save him from a potentially fatal dispute with gangsters, then follows the budding comedian’s path to self-discovery through episodes both poignant and comical.
-
-
Great book and perfect narration
- De MarilynArms en 12-15-16
De: Trevor Noah
-
Slaughterhouse-Five
- De: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrado por: James Franco
- Duración: 5 h y 13 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
Traumatized by the bombing of Dresden at the time he had been imprisoned, Pilgrim drifts through all events and history, sometimes deeply implicated, sometimes a witness. He is surrounded by Vonnegut's usual large cast of continuing characters (notably here the hack science fiction writer Kilgore Trout and the alien Tralfamadorians, who oversee his life and remind him constantly that there is no causation, no order, no motive to existence).
-
-
Don't Quit Your Daytime Job, James
- De Keith en 11-20-15
De: Kurt Vonnegut
-
Stranded
- De: Chris Bruno, David Howard Lee, Shukri R. Abdi
- Narrado por: Taraji P. Henson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Blake Griffin, y otros
- Duración: 2 h y 7 m
- Grabación Original
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
Separated by 10 years, 3,000 miles, and the unrelenting stresses of adulthood, best friends Janet and Serena plan a 40th birthday girls’ trip to reconnect. But after a massive crash, they’re the only survivors to wash ashore on an uncharted Caribbean Island. Armed with only the clothes on their backs and zero survival skills, they fight to overcome hunger, thirst, deadly wildlife—and most terrifyingly—decades of accrued resentment. Can they find their way home, or will they kill each other first?
-
-
Get ready to Laugh
- De Lasheree McFarlane en 11-08-24
De: Chris Bruno, y otros
-
The Best Man's Ghostwriter
- De: Matthew Starr
- Narrado por: Glen Powell, Nicholas Braun, Ashley Park, y otros
- Duración: 4 h y 37 m
- Grabación Original
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
A bad best man’s speech can ruin a wedding. Why do we plan every detail of a perfect day and then give the groom’s idiot best friend five minutes of total power? Enter Nate (Glen Powell), a speechwriter-for-hire who helps people write incredible best man speeches. To keep the best man from embarrassing himself (and the newlyweds), Nate uses his list of don’ts: Don’t mention the exes, don’t be rated R, and don’t bum everyone out. Nate’s system never fails. That is, until he meets Dan (Nicholas Braun).
-
-
SO GOOD
- De Csutty en 09-23-24
De: Matthew Starr
-
Mel & Sue: Should Know By Now
- De: Mel Giedroyc, Sue Perkins
- Narrado por: Mel Giedroyc, Sue Perkins
- Duración: 3 h y 30 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
We all have things in our life that we should know by now, but don’t. Absences in our knowledge and skillset that are frankly shameful in an adult. Things that would be too embarrassing to ask anyone to explain – except our very best friend. Listen in as Mel and Sue tackle their ignorance head on, asking each other to explain something that they still don’t know - but absolutely, as adults, should - from how to parallel park to fully understanding bread (why has it got all those holes in it? What, honestly, is yeast?).
De: Mel Giedroyc, y otros
Lo que los oyentes dicen sobre Becoming Italian
Calificaciones medias de los clientesReseñas - Selecciona las pestañas a continuación para cambiar el origen de las reseñas.
-
Total
-
Ejecución
-
Historia
- Lisa6000
- 02-09-24
Very enjoyable book!
As an Italian American myself, who has documented her Italian citizenship, I really enjoyed this book. 
Se ha producido un error. Vuelve a intentarlo dentro de unos minutos.
Has calificado esta reseña.
Reportaste esta reseña
-
Total
-
Ejecución
-
Historia
- Sonja
- 04-26-24
Just what I was looking for
After a recent vacation to Italy I have been pondering many of the topics discussed in this book and learned so many interesting details and gained great insight to the sweet life of Italy.
AI narration slaughtered Italian words, and a few hilarious moments when AI couldn’t enunciate Italian terminology (around 6:12 in chapter about taxes made me laugh out loud).
Se ha producido un error. Vuelve a intentarlo dentro de unos minutos.
Has calificado esta reseña.
Reportaste esta reseña
-
Total
-
Ejecución
-
Historia
- Thomas P Fiorelli
- 07-25-24
Second Rate Performance and Experience
What should we think of an author who uses AI to convey his Italian story. Every two minutes Mr.AI slaughters the Italian language. The author shows little respect for himself, the work, and the Paying Listener.
Se ha producido un error. Vuelve a intentarlo dentro de unos minutos.
Has calificado esta reseña.
Reportaste esta reseña