{"product_id":"the-dark-heart-of-italy-9780865477247","title":"The Dark Heart of Italy","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1999 Tobias Jones immigrated to Italy, expecting to discover the pastoral bliss described by centuries of foreign visitors. Instead, he found a very different country: one besieged by unfathomable terrorism and deep-seated paranoia. \u003ci\u003eThe Dark Heart of Italy\u003c\/i\u003e is Jones's account of his four-year voyage across the Italian peninsula.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJones writes not just about Italy's art, climate, and cuisine but also about the much livelier and stranger sides of the Bel Paese: the language, soccer, Catholicism, cinema, television, and terrorism. Why, he wonders, does the parliament need a \"slaughter commission\"? Why do bombs still explode every time politics start getting serious? Why does everyone urge him to go home as soon as possible, saying that Italy is a \"brothel\"? Most of all, why does one man, Silvio Berlusconi-in the words of a famous song-appear to own everything from Padre Nostro (Our Father) to Cosa Nostra (the Mafia)?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Italy that emerges from Jones's travels is a country scarred by civil wars and \"illustrious corpses\"; a country that is proudly visual rather than verbal, based on aesthetics rather than ethics; a country where crime is hardly ever followed by punishment; a place of incredible illusionism, where it is impossible to distinguish fantasy from reality and fact from fiction.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=AUTH-3169865\"\u003eTobias Jones\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e St. Martins Press-3PL\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/13\/2005\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 314\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.90lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.40h x 5.40w x 0.90d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780865477247\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0865477248\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBISAC Categories:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-HIS\"\u003eHistory\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-HIS020000\"\u003eEurope | Italy\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-TRV\"\u003eTravel\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-TRV009110\"\u003eEurope | Italy\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTobias Jones\u003c\/b\u003e studied at Jesus College, Oxford. He was on the staff of the \u003ci\u003eLondon Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e and of\u003ci\u003e The Independent on Sunday\u003c\/i\u003e before moving, in 1999, to Parma, Italy.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"St. Martins Press-3PL","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42638118912237,"sku":"9780865477247","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0550\/8097\/6621\/products\/img_cb0690ea-a0b8-43fd-97e7-dfa124496f62.jpg?v=1649027985","url":"https:\/\/sureshotbooks.com\/products\/the-dark-heart-of-italy-9780865477247","provider":"SureShot Books Publishing LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}