The ANNOTICO Report
Who can ever read enough books about stranieri (foreigners)
discovering
Italy, their initial shock,
and their eventual understanding and surrender. This
book is done with a
comedic flair.
On Milwaukee.com
By Bobby Tanzilo
April 18, 2005
Anyone who has paid attention will notice that lots of
Americans and
English go to Italy, settle down and write a memoir about
it: Frances Mayes
and Tim Parks are two of the most recently famous.
Now, former TV comedy writer Phil Doran adds his thoughts
in "The Reluctant
Tuscan: How I Discovered My Inner Italian." It traces
his skepticism about
moving to a small town -- which he calls Cambione (names
in the book have
been changed to protect the innocent), not far from Lucca
-- to pour
seemingly endless piles of money into renovating what
Italians poetically
refer to as a "rustico." That is, a dilapidated old farm
house.
Having written for "Sanford and Son" and "The Wonder Years,"
Doran has
little trouble finding humor in his new life. He also
learns to look past
the "wacky" Italians we also meet in these kinds of books
and to understand
what makes them tick. And he learns to appreciate a different
way of life
and a different outlook on life.
We recently asked Doran about the book and his Tuscan love affair.
OMC: There has been no shortage of books by Americans
or Britons who have
moved to Italy. What makes yours different -- other than
the author, of
course?
Phil Doran: There are a number of terrific books about
Tuscany but I think
mine is the only one that can make you laugh. As a comedy
writer my natural
instinct is to ferret out the funny, and in Italy that's
pretty easy
because they are the most naturally humorous people on
the planet. In fact,
I think writing about the Italians without showing their
humor would be
like writing about France and never mentioning champagne.
Their humor
bubbles up through everything they say and do and I only
hope I have
properly captured that essence in "The Reluctant Tuscan."
OMC: It's hard to get a sense from the book when the action
took place. How
long ago did you buy the house there?
PD: The actual story of our buying and remodeling the
house was more
complicated than a Russian novel. Not being Russian or
a novelist, I really
had to simplify the events and compress the time to make
it understandable.
Needless to say Rome wasn't built in a day and neither
was anything else in
Italy.
OMC: How much time do you spend in Tuscany these days?
Have you come to
love it still more, or can you see yourself tiring of
it at some point and
being ready to move on?
PD: We spend about half the year there shuttling back
and forth between
Tuscany and Southern California like migratory geese.
I'm not planning to
move anywhere and I hope (my wife) Nancy took me seriously
when I told her
that my next move will be to a box and six pallbearers
will be carrying me
out in it. As far as getting tired of it, life in Cambione
is an
ever-changing kaleidoscope of colorful characters fully
enjoying life as
only the Italians can, and if I ever get tired of that,
I will be ready for
that box.
OMC: What do the townspeople in Camaiore (which is where
we're guessing the
book actually is set) think of the book? Judging from
their reaction to the
threatened/promised articles, one would think a book
would have them astir.
PD: Ironically, books about Italy written by stranieri
(foreigners) are not
very popular there. In fact, Frances Mayes' book ("Under
the Tuscan Sun")
was just published in Italian about a year ago and I
think that was only
because it was such a huge international hit the Italians
became
embarrassed they hadn't read it. I am hoping that if
and when "The
Reluctant Tuscan" comes out in Italian my fellow citizens
will see that I
have written about them with love and admiration.