Too Much Tuscan Sun Confessions Of A Chianti Tour Guide

by Castagno, Dario; Rodi, Robert

• ISBN13: 9780762736706
• ISBN10: 0762736704
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-09-01
• Publisher: Globe Pequot

Summary

Over the past several years, "the American in Tuscany," has become a literary sub genre. Launched by the phenomenal success of Frances Mayes's Under the Tuscan Sun, bookstores now burgeon with nimble, witty accounts of this clash in cultures - Americans trying to do American things in Italy and bumping against a brick wall of tradition. Before this sub genre exhausts itself, it's only fair that we hear the other side of the story - that of a native Tuscan and of dozens of Americans who have stormed through his life and homeland, determined to find in it whatever they are looking for, whether quaintness or wisdom, submission or direction. There is no one better to provide this view than Dario Castagno. A Tuscan guide whose client base is predominantly American, Dario has spent more than a decade taking individuals and small groups on customized tours through the Chianti region of Tuscany. Reared in Britain through early childhood, he speak English fluently and is therefore capable of fully engaging his American clients and getting to know them. Too Much Tuscan Sun is Dario's account of some of his more remarkable customers, from the obsessive and the oblivious to the downright lunatic. It is also a primer on Tuscany - its charms and its culture. Structured around a typical Tuscan year, Dario takes us through the sights, smells, and sounds of Chianti during each of the twelve months, including the festivities and pageantry that accord with the season, most notable the Palio - the bareback horse race that consumes the social energies of the people of Siena for all of July and August. Dario also intersperses an account of his own life and times - that of a transplanted British "little lord" who learns to love the wilds of Chianti; of his discovery and adoption of abandoned peasant farmhouses; of his apprenticeship in the wine industry; and of his arduous transformation from bohemian layabout to thriving Tuscan guide.

Author Biography

Dario Castagno was born in England to Italian parents and moved with his family to Tuscany when he was ten. Through his company, Chianti Rooster Tours, he has guided small groups of visitors--mostly Americans--to his favorite spots in the Chianti region for more than ten years. This is his first book. Perhaps his proudest accomplishment, however, is claiming membership in Siena's Caterpillar contrada, which won the Palio in 2003.

Table of Contents

Ringraziamenti

Introduction: Americans through Tuscan Eyes

Discovering Chianti

January and the Athletes

Chianti and ""Chianti""

February and the Honeymooners

Cradle of Genius

March and the Oenophile

Fosco's House

April and the Know-it-alls

Love Among the Ruins

May and the Collector

Intervallo: The Dutch

The Black Rooster

The First Excursion

July and the Palio

Us versus Them

August and the Lovers

Intervallo: The American Cat

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