Pasquale's Nose: Idle Days in an Italian Town

by Michael Rips

Everywhere hailed for its quirkiness, its hilarity, its charm, Pasquale's Nose tells the story of a New York City lawyer who runs away to a small Etruscan village with his wife and new baby, and discovers a community of true eccentrics -- warring bean growers, vanishing philosophers, a blind bootmaker, a porcupine hunter -- among whom he feels unexpectedly at home.

Genres: Italy, Travel, Memoir, Nonfiction, Italian Literature, Biography Memoir, History

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Michael Rips is the author of The Golden Flea, Pasquale’s Nose, and The Face of a Naked Lady. He is the executive director of the Art Students League of New York and lives in the Chelsea Hotel in New York City.

Reviews

[Chana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very, very strange. An unusual man, Mr. Michael Rips, originally of Nebraska, gets scammed by his wife into moving out of his comfort zone in NY (a hotel, he mainly only ever lives in hotels) to a house on a cliff in Sutri Italy. His wife is an artist who paints surrounded by bees, Michael is a layabout philosopher/writer/foodie who tells us about the even odder inhabitants of Sutri Italy. A very insular and inbred, Michael uses the word archaic, village of people near Rome. You can catch the bus to Rome from there by buying a ticket from a guy named Dirty but leave an extra 1/2 hour for Dirty to walk the few feet from the cash register to the ticket drawer. I imagine that Mr. Rips is exaggerating and poking fun at the people of Sutri, although all is probably true to some degree. Except maybe that thing about his brother who disappeared into the basement when the author was 8, never to be seen again. What?? Quite a bit of bizarre Sutrian, Estruscan, Roman history in here. Strange but interesting little book.

[LindyLouMac · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a quick read, only 200 pages but full of amusing anecdotes and Italian eccentrics, an interesting mix of historical fact and myth, as well as the author's reflections on life in a small hilltop town called Sutri.
Sutri is in the Tuscia, where I live, so the book was of particular interest. This region extends from Rome up to the borders of Tuscany in the north, Umbria to the east and the coast to the west. The largest city in the region is Viterbo and Sutri an attractive hill town in the countryside, is an equal distance between there and Rome. The inhabitants of the Tuscia are in general unassuming people and tend to be suspicious of `stranieri' foreigners, which is probably one of the reasons that the region is still relatively undiscovered, a treasure trove of Etruscan antiquities and nature at its most beautiful.
The book is written as a series of literary sketches some of which I found amusing, others rather weird and the ones where the author tried to compare to familiar situations in the USA where he came from frankly rather boring.
One description too many for me was the recipe for horsemeat and learning that the best horse meat in Italy comes from around Sutri. Information I could have done without, even when the author goes on to say that the Sutrini's also worship horses holding a festa in their honour!

I am glad that I read it and the next time that I visit Sutri I will certainly be looking around me to see if I can recognise any of the great cast of characters, including Gino, Dina, Vittore, Fiorina, Luciano, Romolo, and of course Pasquale who gives the book its title. I do think though that life even in Sutri may have moved on a little since 2001!
I would not recommend it unless like me you happen to be particularly interested in Italy.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick reading trip to Italy- with the requsite quirky characters, history, and food! I got my recipe for supper last night from it (pasta with garlic and oil) and my after supper company as well. I met up with Salvatore, who owns Il Buco ("The Hole").

Il Buco is located on one of the shortest, narrowest, and darkest streets in Sutri. True to its name and location, it is a hole dug out of the side of a building, as if the building had been operated on years before and the wound had not properly closed.

The dining room of Il Buco has no more than five tables, with the rest of the room taken up (in order of increasing size) by the refrigerator, Salvatore, and the fireplace. On the walls of Il Buco-- originally white, now covered in a smoke-gray patina- are three small paintings, one of which is a portrait of a woman who appears to be gagging on a sausage. The painter was a woman who realized some notoriety during her lifetime, and who. Salvatore calims, dined at Il Buco.

Despite the great amounts of heat and smoke generated by the fireplace, Salvatore stands his ground, sliding meat in and out of the flames, his arms down the throat of the fire. The firedoes not affect Salvatore. He is its master. Salvatore is Vulcan.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh that I could plop myself down in the townsquare of this place where horses are, but cars not, allowed, so that I could watch the idosyncratic people of this quaint town of Sutri, not too many miles distance-wise but a world apart from their neighbors, the Romans, other Italians, and pretty much the rest of us, and listen in on the the conversations that comprehensibly make no sense.

The town boasts a blind bootmaker; a hunter of the endangered porcupine who hunts driving at night down a wooded road with his car lights turned off; a lesbian couple who goes to great lengths to fool everyone, having no idea they have not been successful, etc. There is no end to the quirky traits of these horse-meat eating, bean-growing warring, philosophizing, proud lovable Sutrini.

I liked best how reviewer, Rex Roberts of Insight, said it: "Reading Pasquale's Nose becomes very much like sitting around a dinner table listening to friends tell their best yarns, replete with whimsical exaggerations." Reading this book made for a cozy evening spent with my newly-made Sutrini friends.

[Wanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can these stories and people all be real?! Either way Rips captivated me in the telling. And, reading this made me want to visit Italy more than ever.

[Nicolaia Rips · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored it! It is a witty and charming book filled with deep insight. I love how the author portrayed himself. Its a great read and while short still wonderful. I HIGHLY recommend!

[Debbie Robson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a strange book by a strange author. In the opening pages Michael Rips freely admits that he doesn’t do much of anything (while his wife seems to be non-stop busy as a mother and artist). “Sheila, an artist, had just given birth to our child. With no reason to believe that I would ever work, she felt compelled to earn money. That’s where Italy came in.”
At first this book is a delight as we learn about this place, Sutri, near Rome and all the bewildering inhabitants and their history but after reading about the Sutrian’s cruelty to the local horses I’m afraid I just switched off.
There are a lot of interesting characters including Pasquale and his nose, the lesbians and the very strange Aurellio Mezzadonna to name a few but it seems there is an impenetrable wall surrounding the town that doesn’t welcome foreigners and the ways of the villagers are for this reader anyway almost unbelievable. Some of the stories create an unease I can’t put my finger on. Not a place I would wish to visit.

[Victor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rips is lead to Sutri, Italy, a town north of Rome that claims an Etruscan heritage. Most of the book is about the odd characters he meets in his short time living in Sutri. I agree most with the comments "Rips loves absurdity" and "a quirky travel memoir." Heavy on "weirdness," not so much on mainstream Italian culture. Reminds me of the "grotesques" in Sherwood Anderson's short stories. Not like any place I've visited, but perhaps I have not gotten deeply into any Italian community yet.
Additional note: I've just completed a nine week trip to Italy. I could perhaps have found oddball characters, but for the most part I met really wonderful people with whom I would love to create community. I also saw some really strange people, like the young man who rode his bicycle into Piazza Matteotti in Greve-in-Chianti shouting hurrahs to his favorite soccer (calcio) players.

[Maria Calipari · Rating 4 out of 5]

They certainly were Idle days in this small town, and at times I could feel myself there. His discriptions were sometimes, for me, incomplete... I wanted so much more... but he summed it up beautifully.

"Sutri is a small town and we don't want them to leave. Where else would they go?"

What we think is not what they are thinking at all!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a catchy little number that keeps the reader smiling from page one to the back cover. If only we could all revel in the unabashed celebration of human nature like the people of the peninsula known as Italy. Very amusing and warm hearted. Just read a chapter...

[Karen Monahan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I managed to get a third of the way through this book and decided not to waste anymore time on it. Truly bizarre characters and situations that aren't amusing in the least.

[Margaret Capozzolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are only so many quirky characters to which one town is entitled. The population of Sutri, in central Italy, however, seems to have exceeded that limit. The author, his artist wife, and their baby daughter have opted to make their home in the Etruscan village a bit north of Rome, where the author spends his days observing and recording the unusual ticks of his eccentric new neighbors. Fortunately, the book is small because, while the anecdotes are humorous, they begin to become tiresome as they pile up.

[Victory Wong · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took many attempts to read this book.

It's sort of like A year in Provence but instead he's in this beautiful little village in Italy called Sutri nearby to Rome with bizarre characters... Some of the short little stories were amusing but it wasn't put together well, some were so short I wanted them to last longer, some of them very long and sometimes dull. Also the topics were so ranging-- some on the people, some of Sutri's history, architecture. I would have liked it to be more organized, less random.

I also didn't find the main character compelling as he seems selfish. His wife is and artist so she persuades him to move to Sutri. He spends his days sitting in the cafe doing nothing, taking care of their child. At one point he moves into the hotel, as he has a habit of living in hotels when he gets a little unsettled... there was a bizarre flashback of his family. He hears a story about a guy who announced he was going to live in the basement and was never heard from again. The family put food down and the man sent dishes back... And he thought it was an interesting story until he realized his mother was very stiff and he realized that was his uncle they were talking about... Yes very bizarre and the people in Sutri are also strange.

The problem with all the bizarre as by the end it's the guy who wants to leave, the guy who will never leave, the man/woman... Nothing really coheses well.

[Barbara]

If you are not in the mood for quirky, don't start this book. Around page 20, I realised quirkiness wasn't some tic of the author's, it was the outer covering of the inner meaning of the book, and at that point I thought I understood the story, and I amused myself filming it in my head and watching my parents watch it, set in a garden, not the palace of "The Leopard", not in sere, corrupted Sicily with Inpector Montalbano, but someplace greener and Edenic. The last page gave me the slap upside the head--and the realization I would never have seen that ending on my own, since I don't have the trust the author does, trust in himself, in God, in community, in the process, he has developed this trust, and because he has, he has insights most of us don't have a chance of seeing or living. I still think it would make a smashing good movie, but for people like me, who see the visual and not the essential, it is imperative to read the book and get the point that way. Thank you, Michael Rips.

[Marcela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a collection of anecdotes from the author's time living in the Italian town of Sutri, which is just north of Rome, over the course of a few weeks. This book was recommended to me by an acquaintance who owns a home in Italy and knows how much I enjoy travel. It was a very quick and easy read. I thought that some of the anecdotes were quite interesting and thoroughly enjoyed them. However, there were also a few stories that felt a bit flat. Michael Rips depicts Sutri as a quaint little village and its inhabitants are quite eccentric, in contrast to the people from Rome, and perhaps not very welcoming of outsiders. Overall, it was a good book. I enjoyed learning about Sutri and their way of life.
A quote from Rips:
”The transgression of Adam and Eve was not in learning the difference between good and evil but in treating the knowledge they received as something that was, literally, internal to them-a food that could be seized, devoured, and controlled by the individual.”

[Naturegirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, you know I love books about Italy, but this one was meh. The author makes himself sound like a lazy dolt, but the guy wrote a book, so maybe that just how he protrays himself? The book was interesting in that it was about a town called Sutri outside of Rome, which is little known and even less written about. The characters he paints are endearing and totally weird all at the same time. I really don't have a great desire to visit Sutri after reading this book, but maybe that's the point, since the Sutrini aren't fond of outsiders.

[Denice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to read Italian Education by Tim Parks, but it was checked out at the library, so I started with this one. It was a short and easy read and left me feeling quite tranquil and just a little envious that I wasn't living in a similar village. The experience he describes sounds ideal and magical, I'd love to know if it will stay that way for long!

[Amir · Rating 4 out of 5]

A light reading. The story (somewhat autobiographical?) of an American's encounter with the people of an Italian small town. The author shares with us the idiosyncrasies of Sutri's folks, sometimes philosophising and trying to make sense of their oddities, and quite often offering such witty punchlines that can make you laugh out loud.

[rinabeana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this human interest stuff! Some of my most entertaining reads have been non-fiction about crazy people (okay, not crazy, but definitely colorful!). Someday I'll be able to afford a vacation in Italy...

[Minako Morin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick read. At times funny, this book is written beautifully and made me stop and reflect a few times. I like the author's presentation of the people of the village of Sutri - honest, not always flattering, but entirely respectful and done with love.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny book depicting many eccentric characters in small Italian village. (Almost too many for such a small place) I was puzzled, however, by how he communicated so well when he said he knew no Italian.

[Featherbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful examination of the life and eccentrics of Surti, Italy from the point of view of the American author living there with his family. Funny, charming.

[Bob Conklin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable account of a year spent hanging out with the local characters in a small town north of Rome.

[Leendert · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting author; the last 2 or 3 chapters were quite good - esp. the story about the secretive lesbians and about pasquale

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

Entertaining, with a lot of great anecdotes, but I never felt I got the "flavor" of Italian life the way it comes through in "Under the Tuscan Sun" or "Christ Stopped At Eboli."

[Eli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like quirky town stories. A few times, I laughed out loud. The editing has weaknesses (with regard to arrangement, not grammar) but it was a good, fast read.

[Alexander Motola]

Enchanting story of a small Italian town just down the road from Rome; it could be any rural Italian village, for the strange uniqueness of the characters.

[Julie Busa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Italy and usually devour books about, and that take place, in Italy. I just couldn't get through this one and gave up by page 84. It just didn't hold my attention and I found it to be boring.

[Kimb · Rating 1 out of 5]

An obnoxious and pretentious collection of stories about a decidedly unlikable and uninteresting man.

[Alan Swift · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was part travel book, part history, part cookery book , part social commentary and part personal story about living in a small Italian village for a year or so. I have ventured into small Italian hilltop towns so part of the book resonated with me and credit to Rips for capturing the essence of these communities and describing their particular charm and rhythm I know I am being stereotypical but it seemed to me that only someone from the USA could write this sort of book. I found it strange to believe that on the one hand he describes a community that is quite insular and self contained but on the other he is able to penetrate the closest secrets and idiosyncrasies of the society. We are led to believe that the various towns people opened up on the very nature of their society and their personal quirks to Rip without hesitation. I found this questionable and I wonder what the folk of Sutri really felt about Rip, whom I note says little about himself or his family. Overall the text was lacking in warmth or affection for the people and I felt he was laughing at them rather than with them. An odd quirky wee book and while the writing is good the satirical content was not.