Journey to the Land of the Flies and Other Travels

by Aldo Buzzi

Aldo Buzzi traveled the world soaking up the experiences, sights, sounds and tastes that have gone into the creation of these delectable diversions. From exotic ports of call like Djakarta, Gorgonzola, Sicily and Moscow, and featuring menus such as roast monkey, cabbage soup, risotto, and 19 types of vodka, this is a book to satisfy both the senses and the mind.

Genres: Travel, Italian Literature, Nonfiction, Essays

147 pages, Hardcover

Published February 13, 1996

About the author

Aldo Buzzi was an author and architect.

Buzzi graduated from Milan School of Architecture in 1938. Though primarily an author of travel and gastronomy books, he also worked as an architect; as assistant director, scene writer, and screen writer for various film production companies in the former Yugoslavia, and in Rome, Italy, and France. He edited the following films: La Kermesse heroica, Ridolini e la collana della suocera e Ridolini esploratore, and Sette anni di guai, all produced by Editoriale Domus, 1945.

Reviews

[Daniel Benevides]

Livrinho adorável de viagens e anedotas curiosas sobre ruas, bebidas, comidas e escritores russos. Um aperitivo para outras leituras. E para outros aperitivos!

[Erwin Maack]

"As migalhas são recolhidas com cuidado e distribuídas
aos animais da casa; se um pedaço de pão cai no chão,
é apanhado e beijado. Ao menos era assim que se fazia
então, quando os camponeses comiam todos juntos num
mesmo prato ou diretamente da mesa de mármore sobre
qual se derramava a massa. Diziam os aldeões: “Num
fari di pani Bartulumeo”, isto é, não faça de um pão um
são Batolomeu (do qual, como se vê na estátua do santo
no Duomo de Milão, foi arrancada a pele), comendo só a
casca e deixando o miolo. Segundo uma lenda contada por
Nabokov, são Bartolomeu, talvez o menos conhecido dos
doze apóstolos, “foi esfolado vivo e exposto às moscas”
em Albanópolis, hoje Derbent, às margens do mar Cáspio,
a mais ou menos duzentos quilômetros de Baku. Seu
caixão, jogado no mar, boiou milagrosamente até a ilha de
Lípari, onde o santo se tornou Bartulumeo." (página 16)

[Graychin]

In what other single volume are you going to learn that in Russia a chamber pot used to be called ‘Yakov Andreyich’ (James, son of Andrew) and that capers are technically flowers? This is a very strange, very funny, very delightful book, of special interest to persons with special interests in:

- Russian literature
- Insects
- Food
- Nice smelling women
- Illiterate circus performers
- Peculiar street names

Is it any wonder I liked it so much?

[J]

Do not stop after the first essay!

If you are like me, the first essay will allllmost enthrall (so many literary references, sparks of beauty in the writing) but end up confusing with its lack of narrative structure and obscure allusions. BUT the other essays have more backbone, and the sparks of beauty are more frequent. This is the best travel writing: informative, evokative, and simply gorgeous.

[John]

What a queer little tome - fascinating, yet frustrating!

I loved the stream-of-consciousness aspect to it, as well as all the foodie talk; the Russian Lit references went over my head for the most part I'm afraid. Part memoir, part travel, part history, part foodie-porn.

[Nick Sweeney]

It's very difficult to categorise this book. Maybe that's one mark of a good book. It's not 'about' anything, and yet it's about everything. Aldo Buzzi muses on food, history and the characters in it - minor, unnamed, many of them - and his impressions of the world and how people act in it, at leisure, in adversity, in pleasure.

[Harry]

Like a digressive, associative wander through a library starting at the Russia shelves and taking it from there. Playful and erudite and playfully erudite. Also, a quick read as it is so short.

[Kleine Eva]

This book is a treasure chest, full of lovely anecdotes

[Claudio]

Divertidos, instrutivos e saborosos relatos de viagens não apenas por variadas geografias, mas pela literatura e gastronomia.