-
Italian Ways
- On and Off the Rails from Milan to Palermo
- Narrated by: Ben Bartolone
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $17.96
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Hero's Way
- Walking with Garibaldi from Rome to Ravenna
- By: Tim Parks
- Narrated by: Roger May
- Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1849, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italy's legendary revolutionary, was finally forced to abandon his defense of Rome. He and his men had held the besieged city for four long months, but now it was clear that only surrender would prevent slaughter and destruction at the hands of a huge French army. Against all odds, Garibaldi was determined to turn defeat into moral victory.
By: Tim Parks
-
The Pursuit of Italy
- A History of a Land, Its Regions, and Their Peoples
- By: David Gilmour
- Narrated by: Napoleon Ryan
- Length: 19 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Did Garibaldi do Italy a disservice when he helped its disparate parts achieve unity? Was the goal of political unification a mistake? These questions are asked and answered in a number of ways in this engaging, original consideration of the many histories that contribute to the brilliance - and weakness - of Italy today. David Gilmour's exploration of Italian life over the centuries is filled with provocative anecdotes as well as personal observations.
-
-
Good history: Tough Narration
- By C.S. on 11-12-18
By: David Gilmour
-
La Bella Lingua
- My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language
- By: Dianne Hales
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A celebration of the language and culture of Italy, La Bella Lingua is the story of how a language shaped a nation, told against the backdrop of one woman's personal quest to speak fluent Italian. For anyone who has been to Italy, the fantasy of living the Italian life is powerfully seductive. But to truly become Italian, one must learn the language. This is how Dianne Hales began her journey. In La Bella Lingua, she brings the story of her decades-long experience with "the world's most loved and lovable language" together with explorations of Italy's history.
-
-
Highly Recomended!!!
- By Ciro Silva on 09-21-16
By: Dianne Hales
-
For the Love of Europe
- My Favorite Places, People, and Stories
- By: Rick Steves
- Narrated by: Rick Steves
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Join Rick as he's swept away by a fado singer in Lisbon, learns the dangers of falling in love with a gondolier in Venice, and savors a cheese course in the Loire Valley. Contemplate the mysteries of centuries-old stone circles in England, dangle from a cliff in the Swiss Alps, and hear a French farmer's defense of foie gras. With a brand-new, original introduction from Rick reflecting on his decades of travel, For the Love of Europe features 100 of the best stories published throughout his career.
-
-
Glad I got the audio version
- By Simon Altus on 01-14-21
By: Rick Steves
-
Four Seasons in Rome
- On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World
- By: Anthony Doerr
- Narrated by: Anthony Doerr
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anthony Doerr has received many awards. Then came the Rome Prize, one of the most prestigious awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and with it a stipend and a writing studio in Rome for a year. Doerr learned of the award the day he and his wife returned from the hospital with newborn twins. Exquisitely observed, Four Seasons in Rome describes Doerr's varied adventures in one of the most enchanting cities in the world.
-
-
Oh my , don't miss this one
- By Molly-o on 02-22-16
By: Anthony Doerr
-
See You in the Piazza
- New Places to Discover in Italy
- By: Frances Mayes
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Frances Mayes
- Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling and beloved author Frances Mayes discovers the hidden pleasures of Italy in a sumptuous travel narrative that crisscrosses the country, with inventive new recipes celebrating Italian cuisine.
-
-
Bravo Cassandra Campbell
- By John Genzale on 05-20-19
By: Frances Mayes
-
The Hero's Way
- Walking with Garibaldi from Rome to Ravenna
- By: Tim Parks
- Narrated by: Roger May
- Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1849, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italy's legendary revolutionary, was finally forced to abandon his defense of Rome. He and his men had held the besieged city for four long months, but now it was clear that only surrender would prevent slaughter and destruction at the hands of a huge French army. Against all odds, Garibaldi was determined to turn defeat into moral victory.
By: Tim Parks
-
The Pursuit of Italy
- A History of a Land, Its Regions, and Their Peoples
- By: David Gilmour
- Narrated by: Napoleon Ryan
- Length: 19 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Did Garibaldi do Italy a disservice when he helped its disparate parts achieve unity? Was the goal of political unification a mistake? These questions are asked and answered in a number of ways in this engaging, original consideration of the many histories that contribute to the brilliance - and weakness - of Italy today. David Gilmour's exploration of Italian life over the centuries is filled with provocative anecdotes as well as personal observations.
-
-
Good history: Tough Narration
- By C.S. on 11-12-18
By: David Gilmour
-
La Bella Lingua
- My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language
- By: Dianne Hales
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A celebration of the language and culture of Italy, La Bella Lingua is the story of how a language shaped a nation, told against the backdrop of one woman's personal quest to speak fluent Italian. For anyone who has been to Italy, the fantasy of living the Italian life is powerfully seductive. But to truly become Italian, one must learn the language. This is how Dianne Hales began her journey. In La Bella Lingua, she brings the story of her decades-long experience with "the world's most loved and lovable language" together with explorations of Italy's history.
-
-
Highly Recomended!!!
- By Ciro Silva on 09-21-16
By: Dianne Hales
-
For the Love of Europe
- My Favorite Places, People, and Stories
- By: Rick Steves
- Narrated by: Rick Steves
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Join Rick as he's swept away by a fado singer in Lisbon, learns the dangers of falling in love with a gondolier in Venice, and savors a cheese course in the Loire Valley. Contemplate the mysteries of centuries-old stone circles in England, dangle from a cliff in the Swiss Alps, and hear a French farmer's defense of foie gras. With a brand-new, original introduction from Rick reflecting on his decades of travel, For the Love of Europe features 100 of the best stories published throughout his career.
-
-
Glad I got the audio version
- By Simon Altus on 01-14-21
By: Rick Steves
-
Four Seasons in Rome
- On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World
- By: Anthony Doerr
- Narrated by: Anthony Doerr
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anthony Doerr has received many awards. Then came the Rome Prize, one of the most prestigious awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and with it a stipend and a writing studio in Rome for a year. Doerr learned of the award the day he and his wife returned from the hospital with newborn twins. Exquisitely observed, Four Seasons in Rome describes Doerr's varied adventures in one of the most enchanting cities in the world.
-
-
Oh my , don't miss this one
- By Molly-o on 02-22-16
By: Anthony Doerr
-
See You in the Piazza
- New Places to Discover in Italy
- By: Frances Mayes
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Frances Mayes
- Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling and beloved author Frances Mayes discovers the hidden pleasures of Italy in a sumptuous travel narrative that crisscrosses the country, with inventive new recipes celebrating Italian cuisine.
-
-
Bravo Cassandra Campbell
- By John Genzale on 05-20-19
By: Frances Mayes
-
Give Unto Others
- Commissario Brunetti Mysteries, Book 31
- By: Donna Leon
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brunetti is forced to confront the price of loyalty, to his past and in his work, as a seemingly innocent request leads him into troubling waters. What role can or should loyalty play in the life of a police inspector? It’s a question Commissario Guido Brunetti must face and ultimately answer in Give Unto Others, Donna Leon’s splendid 31st installment of her acclaimed Venetian crime series.
-
-
All the characters are back in their best form.
- By Cynthia on 03-19-22
By: Donna Leon
-
The Italians
- By: John Hooper
- Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Hooper's marvelously entertaining and perceptive new book is ideal for anyone seeking to understand contemporary Italy and the unique character of the Italians. Looking at the facts that lie behind and often belie the stereotypes, his revealing book sheds new light on many aspects of Italian life: football and Freemasonry, sex, symbolism, and the reason Italian has twelve words for a coat hanger yet none for a hangover.
-
-
Mi piace molto!
- By Adeliese Baumann on 12-30-16
By: John Hooper
-
Neither Here Nor There
- Travels in Europe
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You'll stop at Europe's most diverting and historic locales and view the Old World through Bryson's tourist eye view in this affectionate, blisteringly insightful, and riotously funny pilgrimage from the frozen wastes of Scandinavia to the chaotic tumult of Istanbul.
-
-
I wish he were my neighbour.
- By Heather on 08-29-12
By: Bill Bryson
-
Pasta, Pane, Vino
- Deep Travels Through Italy's Food Culture
- By: Matt Goulding
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Town by town, bite by bite, author Matt Goulding brings Italy to life through intimate portraits of its food culture and the people pushing it in new directions. From the pasta temples of Rome to the multicultural markets of Sicily to the family-run, fish-driven trattorias of Lake Como, Pasta, Pane, Vino captures the breathtaking diversity of Italian regional food culture.
-
-
Eat Your Way. . .
- By D. G. Miller on 07-01-19
By: Matt Goulding
-
Four Lost Cities
- A Secret History of the Urban Age
- By: Annalee Newitz
- Narrated by: Chloe Cannon
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Four Lost Cities, acclaimed science journalist Annalee Newitz takes listeners on an entertaining and mind-bending adventure into the deep history of urban life. Investigating across the centuries and around the world, Newitz explores the rise and fall of four ancient cities, each the center of a sophisticated civilization: the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük in Central Turkey, the Roman vacation town of Pompeii in Italy, the medieval megacity of Angkor in Cambodia, and the indigenous metropolis Cahokia, which stood beside the Mississippi River where East St. Louis is today.
-
-
A view from the inhabitants in these lost cities
- By Andy on 04-26-21
By: Annalee Newitz
-
The Pickwick Papers
- The Audible Dickens Collection
- By: Charles Dickens, Neil Gaiman
- Narrated by: Rory Kinnear, Neil Gaiman
- Length: 32 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Samuel Pickwick decides to establish and preside over a travelling society, he unknowingly brings together three of the oddest men in all of London: Tracy Tupman, the loveless self-professed ladies’ man, Augustus Snodgrass, the poet who’s never put pen to paper, and Nathaniel Winkle, the endlessly clumsy sportsman. The ‘Pickwickians’ set off in search of new adventures outside of the confines of the city. Along with a host of other colourful Dickensian characters such as Mr Pickwick’s love-struck landlady, Mrs Bardell, and his trusty sidekick, Sam Weller.
-
-
Done with gusto
- By Tad Davis on 12-26-19
By: Charles Dickens, and others
-
Bella Figura
- How to Live, Love, and Eat the Italian Way
- By: Kamin Mohammadi
- Narrated by: Kamin Mohammadi
- Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The bella figura is the Italian concept of making every aspect of life as beautiful as it can be. Kamin Mohammadi discovered this when she escaped the London corporate media world for a year in Italy. Following the lead of her new neighbors, she soon found a happier, healthier, and more beautiful way of living.
-
-
More than memoir or instruction
- By PrincessDiana on 11-23-18
By: Kamin Mohammadi
-
Shogun
- The Epic Novel of Japan: The Asian Saga, Book 1
- By: James Clavell
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 53 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A bold English adventurer; an invincible Japanese warlord; a beautiful woman torn between two ways of life, two ways of love - all brought together in an extraordinary saga of a time and a place aflame with conflict, passion, ambition, lust, and the struggle for power.
-
-
amazingly well done!
- By Ruby Dickson on 04-24-15
By: James Clavell
-
La Passione
- How Italy Seduced the World
- By: Dianne Hales
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Can you imagine painting without Leonardo, opera without Verdi, fashion without Armani, food without the signature tastes of pasta, gelato, and pizza? The first universities, first banks, first public libraries? All Italian. New York Times best-selling author Dianne Hales attributes these landmark achievements to la passione italiana, a primal force that stems from an insatiable hunger to discover and create; to love and live with every fiber of one's being.
-
-
Brava!
- By Joni on 08-05-19
By: Dianne Hales
-
Short Stories in Italian for Beginners
- By: Olly Richards
- Narrated by: Matteo Ghilardi
- Length: 4 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Short Stories in Italian for Beginners has been written especially for students from beginner to intermediate level, designed to give a sense of achievement, a feeling of progress and, most importantly, enjoyment! Mapped to A2-B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference, these eight captivating stories are designed to give you a sense of achievement and a feeling of progress as you listen. From science fiction to fantasy, to crime and thrillers, Short Stories in Italian for Beginners will make learning Italian easy and enjoyable.
-
-
Loved it!
- By Frances on 11-24-18
By: Olly Richards
-
Il Bel Centro
- A Year in the Beautiful Center
- By: Michelle Damiani
- Narrated by: Nicol Zanzarella
- Length: 20 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michelle Damiani dreamed of living in Italy, she imagined her family as it was in Virginia - her husband filling every moment with work, her teenage son experimenting with sarcasm, her daughter smiling at the scent of lilacs, her baby-cheeked son methodically clicking Legos together, and herself hovering over the happiness of them all - only surrounded by ancient cobblestone alleys and the sound of ringing Italian. What she didn't know was how Italy would work to change them all.
-
-
Wonderful book
- By Old Man Dowler on 05-11-19
By: Michelle Damiani
-
Only in Naples
- Lessons in Food and Famiglia from My Italian Mother-in-Law
- By: Katherine Wilson
- Narrated by: Katherine Wilson
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the tradition of M. F. K. Fisher and Peter Mayle, this enchantingly warm and witty memoir follows American-born Katherine Wilson on her adventures abroad, where a three-month rite of passage in Naples turns into a permanent embrace of this boisterous city on the Mediterranean. It is all thanks to a surprising romance, a new passion for food, and a spirited woman who will become her mother-in-law - and teach her to laugh, to seize joy, and to love.
-
-
Enchanting mix of cultures and languages
- By Mauro on 05-13-16
By: Katherine Wilson
Publisher's Summary
The best-selling author of Italian Neighbors returns with a wry and revealing portrait of Italian life - by riding its trains.
Tim Parks’s books on Italy have been hailed as "so vivid, so packed with delectable details, [they] serve as a more than decent substitute for the real thing" (Los Angeles Times Book Review).
Now, in his first Italian travelogue in a decade, he delivers a charming and funny portrait of Italian ways by riding its trains from Verona to Milan, Rome to Palermo, and right down to the heel of Italy.
Parks begins as any traveler might: "A train is a train is a train, isn’t it?" But soon he turns his novelist’s eye to the details, and as he journeys through majestic Milano Centrale station or on the newest high-speed rail line, he delivers a uniquely insightful portrait of Italy. Through memorable encounters with ordinary Italians - conductors and ticket collectors, priests and prostitutes, scholars and lovers, gypsies and immigrants - Parks captures what makes Italian life distinctive: an obsession with speed but an acceptance of slower, older ways; a blind eye toward brutal architecture amid grand monuments; and an undying love of a good argument and the perfect cappuccino.
Italian Ways also explores how trains helped build Italy and how their development reflects Italians’ sense of themselves from Garibaldi to Mussolini to Berlusconi and beyond. Most of all, Italian Ways is an entertaining attempt to capture the essence of modern Italy. As Parks writes, "To see the country by train is to consider the crux of the essential Italian dilemma: Is Italy part of the modern world, or not?"
More from the same
What listeners say about Italian Ways
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Aaron
- 03-25-14
Extremely entertaining
Italian Ways has been one of the most enjoyable audiobooks I've listened to in a long time. It's not just the reading (which was excellent), but the wonderful insight into the Italian way of life.
This book is incredibly hard to describe and that's what makes it such an excellent listen. The author gives you a view of the Italian people through the perspective of a frequent rail-traveler. The book is a well-composed series of stories chronicling humorous, sweet, and frustrating events the author either participated in or witnessed while using the train system.
The stories couldn't be more enjoyable or vivid. Tim Parks ignites your imagination and builds the most incredible scenes of people interacting with one another. And, Ben Bartalone, the narrator, really delivers, as well.
I can't recommend this one highly enough.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Risheliss
- 03-14-17
This book is awful, pronunciation is terrible.
a better reader would have helped. I couldn't stomach it. it was awful and annoying.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- 4GO
- 01-16-17
At least TRY for proper pronunciation.
As an American who has spent a considerable amount of time in Italy, although I am by no means fluent I nonetheless know what proper Italian sounds like; names of cities etc.
The narrator here isn't capable of saying much beyond "spaghetti and meatballs" properly, which serves to spoil the authors novel but humorous and accurate premise.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sara
- 03-04-16
only for train enthusiast..
What would have made Italian Ways better?
I think I expected more italian life and italian people in the story, but it was pretty much just about him figuring out the trains.....
What does Ben Bartolone bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
He has the voice of the teachers pet. It's annoying. A bit too cheery
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J. Fong
- 08-24-15
Good insight into Italian culture...
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
Yes, I think this book is worth it to get to know Italian culture from the view of the trains. I listened to this book prior to going to italy and traveling, and it helped navigate the rail system and to understand Italy on a deeper level.
What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?
Tim Parks was openly critical of a country that he clearly loves.
What three words best describe Ben Bartolone’s voice?
Inappropriate, incongruous, and unfitting. Because the voice of the author is that of an old ex-pat carmudgeon from Britain, and the narrator sounded like a young American.
Do you think Italian Ways needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
I haven't even bothered to finish the book because I got a little bored, saw that there were still 2 hours to go in the narration, and wondered what possibly more the author could discuss about Italian rails. Almost seemed like he was riding around the country just to have more material to talk about.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous
- 07-06-21
Ad Nauseum
Writer wastes precious moments of our lives drolling on ad nauseum about the most insignificant train details.
Emergency STOP please.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Susan
- 05-18-20
Get a narrator who can pronounce Italian!!
I love the author Tim Parks. But this narrator ruins his wonderful writing. It’s such a shame. I kept trying to relisten and relisten but it just made me too aggravated to hear this guy butchered the Italian. What’s going on here? You think these things would be more carefully vetted.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- G. Speck
- 10-21-19
Great Read
I read this while in Italy and taking the trains for a large portion of the trip. Interesting and funny and informative. Good narration. Helpful information and gives a lot of insight into the Italian way of doing things.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Xkoqueen
- 09-20-18
Choo-choo! The Romance of Railway Travel in Italy
“A train is a train is a train, isn’t it?” So starts Tim Parks’ Italian Ways: On and Off the Rails from Milan to Palermo. The charming narrative about life and travel in Italy vacillates between complaints of the inefficiencies and inconveniences of rail travel to extolling its virtues. Sure the bus is faster, but it isn’t nearly as romantic or interesting!
I love to travel, and my very first memory is of a train trip from California to Iowa to visit my grandmother. It seemed like a grand and daring adventure at the age of three. I haven’t used the U.S. train system much, but I have used the train in other countries when traveling in adulthood. I loved every minute of the experiences unique to train travel in each country! So, when I spotted this book in my library’s newsletter, I snatched up an audiobook copy of Italian Ways.
Tim Parks’ book did not disappoint. I loved his use of anecdotes to show Italians’ stalwart devotion to living at home with their family while commuting up to hundreds of miles by train to work. Parks made each vignette come to life with vivid descriptions of the people and places. Whether it was officious train personnel, odiferous commuters or charming, but hapless tourists, each of Parks’ interactions on his railway travels is memorable. He truly gives readers the social, economic, and political vibe of Italy.
Whether the chapter was about regional, interregional or high-speed (i.e., Eurostar) trains, the stories brought back memories of my own travels. The book will resonate with anyone who has traveled by train in Europe—especially Italy, and readers who have not travelled to Europe/Italy, will surely begin planning their own railway adventure to experience not only the romance of rail travel but the highly organic experience of regional trains and the colorful and enriching interaction with the local community.
The audiobook is entertainingly narrated by Ben Bartolone.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- laurence
- 07-28-15
Not His Best
This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?
Not sure the story lacked any tension--there was no real point to the travel. The observations seemed random and the prose was uninspired
What do you think your next listen will be?
Something with some direction and punch
What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?
The performance was flat but this was not surprising as there was no real drama in the story.
What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
Disappointment
Any additional comments?
This book is not really up to the high quality of Tim Park's intellect. It read as though he was phoning the story in. It is certainly not up to the level of a Paul Theroux travelogue.