Seven seasons in Siena
Subtitle: my quixotic quest for acceptance among Italy's proudest people
By: Robert Rodi
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: 2011
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 260
ISBN-13: 9780345521057; 9780345521071
Subjects: Social life and customs; Homes and haunts; Americans; Acculturation; Biography; Ethnic relations; Description and travel
Description: "Siena seems at first glance a typical Italian city: Within its venerable medieval walls the citizens sport designer clothes, wield digital phones, and prize their dazzling local cuisine. But unlike neighboring Florence, Siena is still deeply rooted in ancient traditions--chiefly the spectacular Palio, in which seventeen independent societies known as contrade vie for bragging rights in an annual bareback horse race around the central piazza. Into this strange, closed world steps Robert Rodi. An Chicago writer with few friends in town and a shaky command of conversational Italian, he couldn't be more out of place. Yet something about the sense of belonging radiating from the ritual-obsessed Sienese excites him, and draws him back to witness firsthand how their passionate brand of community extends beyond the Palio into the entire calendar year. Smitten, Rodi undertakes a plan to insinuate himself into this body politic, learn its ways, and win its acceptance"--Page 2 of cover.