This spring, before we went to Italy, I read "Playing for Pizza," an atypical John Grisham novel about an unemployed professional football quarterback who gets a job playing for an Italian team. No murders or courtroom drama here...except for when the American gets help beating traffic violations from the judge in Parma who just happens to be on the team! For a couple of hundred pages, I was transported to Italy, eating great meals with Rick and friends, identifying with his learning to settle into the culture, to relax and enjoy the simpler moments of life. Reviewers said the plot was a means for Grisham to revel in writing about Italy, a focus I enjoyed.
I also started reading the well-known Brunetti series, by mystery writer and Venice resident Donna Leon, and once again was transported to the city of islands. Her stories show the darker side, violence and corruption that might exist beneath the visible beauty of the old city. But when Guido Brunetti walks past churches and across bridges, down narrow streets along the canals, I enjoy feeling that I am walking right beside him.
I plan to keep an eye out for any and all novels set in Italy. Reading them is a fast and inexpensive way to bring Italy home, at least in imagination.
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