Living in a Foreign Language
A Memoir of Food, Wine, and Love in Italy
by Michael Tucker
Overview
From the Publisher
The actor Michael Tucker and his wife, the actress Jill Eikenberry, having sent their last child off to college, were vacationing in Italy when they happened upon a small cottage nestled in the Umbrian countryside. The three-hundred-and-fifty-year-old Rustico sat perched on a hill in the verdant Spoleto valley amid an olive grove and fruit trees of every kind. For the Tuckers, it was literally love at first sight, and the couple purchased the house without testing the water pressure or checking for signs of termites. Shedding the vestiges of their American life, Michael and Jill endeavored to learn the language, understand the nuances of Italian culture, and build a home in this new chapter of their lives. Both a celebration of a good marriage and a careful study of the nature of home, Living in a Foreign Language is a gorgeous, organic travelogue written with an epicurean's delight in detail and a gourmand's appreciation for all things fine.
My thoughts
The book started out strong, got a little less thrilling for a short while, and then picked up steam right to the enthralling last page! By the end of the book, I was in Umbria at their 350 year old cottage right smack dab in the middle of their pizza party! It sounded like the most incredible thing that could ever possibly happen!
What makes this book unlike some other travel essays is that Michael Tucker really enjoys food and wine, and he adores his wife. Their happy relationship and the good food and friends they had made for really good reading. The book is written with humor and a small bit of history about the region. It was just a good, easy read with some terrific stories.
Favorite Passage
It seems we never had time to get things done because our days were filled to the brim with lingering. Breakfast became a longer and longer linger. Not mine, which is just coffee and a crossword puzzle. But Jill and Caroline have a way of making breakfast into a full-length play which unfolds in long, slow, Chekhovian acts - from yogurt and peaches, into the cheese, proscuitto, tomatoes and panini, into the biscotti dipped in chestnut honey, all washed down with tea. By the time they're done with that, it's time to meet JoJo at the hardware store, where we'll spend ten minutes buying a screwdriver and then all go off to a three-hour lunch, feeling like we'd had a very productive morning. And if we're planning on having any dinner at all, forget it; that's the day.
