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As the Romans Do: An American Family's Italian Odyssey
A celebration of the character and style of one of the world's most spectacular cities! This vibrant insider's view of the most mature city on earth is the perfect companion for anyone who loves anything Italian. In 1995, after a twenty-year love affair with Italy, Alan Epstein fulfilled his dream to live in Rome. In As the Romans Do, he celebrates the spirit of this stylish, dramatic, ancient city that formed the hub of a far-flung empire and introduced the Mediterranean culture to the rest of the world. He also reveals today's Roman men and women in all their appealing contradictions: their gregarious caffe culture; inborn artistic flair; passionate appreciation of good food; instinctive mistrust of technology; showy sex appeal; ingrained charm and expressiveness; surprisingly unusual attitudes toward marriage and religion; and much, much more.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
May 13, 2011
Joyce and Keats slept here.
Ok this is another book read between coughing bouts. One carelessly picked from the bedside stack of bargain books gathering dustbunnies. Wasn't something I intended to read just now, but it was within easy reach. My teen daughter said she'd never read it because it had that hideous bright orange cover. It must have been that ole subconscious talking to me again because I really needed a shot of vitamin C the orange cover appealed. Whether it's the cough syrup or medicine I'm having right now or whether this book deserves 4 stars, it did the trick and got me through the night. Like I said it's a veritable feast. There's food on every page. Or caffe. Epstein & family move from the USA to Rome to satisfy a 20 year dream and he does convince you as to why he loves the place.
1. the food.
2. the coffee.
3. the climate.
4. the history.
5. the people.
6. the community.
7. the beautiful women.
8. the beautiful young men.
9. the art.
and at 10. the food yet again.
If you removed all the references to food, coffee and the drinking it would be a slim quick read. However it's not just a book for foodies. Epstein tries to explain why Rome is like no other place. That the 1-10 above all blend in harmony and have been doing so for thousands of years in a way of life that is sadly and quickly changing with the global economy. The book is based on his life there since 1997 but was published in 2000, so is now 11yrs old. Things have more than likely modernised and morphed more since then. I'd never thought of wanting to visit Rome before, Tuscany maybe but not actually
Rome and now I do despite other things I have heard that didn't appeal. Epstein makes Rome seem like a village community where everyone knows everyone (eventually) and looks out for each other, something that is lacking in most modern western cities. The rituals of food play a huge part in the book, and like Epstein says the Italians say, food is the way to the heart and it keeps the community together. I think it is true. Look at what fast food outlets have done to our society.
On the other hand the book is light on politics and history and art, he tries more than anything to give a family oriented view of living in Rome and in that it succeeds. I would have liked more history with the food, but I did learn two things that I didn't know. James Joyce lived there for a while with his wife and son in 1904 and worked in a bank. One of the houses he rented opposite the spanish stairs,still stands with plaque with his name / boasting Joyce dreamed the story of Ulysses there..(I researched this and discovered Joyce hated the place and couldn't wait to leave - But he did enjoy the non-stop drinking so Rome may well have been the inspiration for "The Dead".) Keats died in Rome and the house he died in carries a plaque to that effect and is a mecca for Keats devotes. I didn't know this and was shocked to learn he died of TB that was wrongly diagnosed. In the middle of the night coughing as I was this seemed even more shocking. Fellini's house in Rome is immortalised with a plaque too and that is fitting as for me Fellini captures the essence of la dolce vita.
The one thing missing is the receipe of Epstein's favourite dish. It would be hard I guess he has so many.
I'd really like to follow Epstein's book with
The Authenticity Hoax: How We Get Lost Finding Ourselves
by Andrew Potter
"a shallow consumerist society built on stratification and one-upmanship that ultimately erodes genuine relationships and true community" - Potter. Wish the library were open now, I'd like to read this following directly on from "As the Romans Do" by Alan Epstein which I've just read. The consumer society and lack of community is why Epstein left America and moved to Rome. Epstein posited that Rome was still operating on values the west had done away with.
bargain = 1 of 29 books for $5.
Ok this is another book read between coughing bouts. One carelessly picked from the bedside stack of bargain books gathering dustbunnies. Wasn't something I intended to read just now, but it was within easy reach. My teen daughter said she'd never read it because it had that hideous bright orange cover. It must have been that ole subconscious talking to me again because I really needed a shot of vitamin C the orange cover appealed. Whether it's the cough syrup or medicine I'm having right now or whether this book deserves 4 stars, it did the trick and got me through the night. Like I said it's a veritable feast. There's food on every page. Or caffe. Epstein & family move from the USA to Rome to satisfy a 20 year dream and he does convince you as to why he loves the place.
1. the food.
2. the coffee.
3. the climate.
4. the history.
5. the people.
6. the community.
7. the beautiful women.
8. the beautiful young men.
9. the art.
and at 10. the food yet again.
If you removed all the references to food, coffee and the drinking it would be a slim quick read. However it's not just a book for foodies. Epstein tries to explain why Rome is like no other place. That the 1-10 above all blend in harmony and have been doing so for thousands of years in a way of life that is sadly and quickly changing with the global economy. The book is based on his life there since 1997 but was published in 2000, so is now 11yrs old. Things have more than likely modernised and morphed more since then. I'd never thought of wanting to visit Rome before, Tuscany maybe but not actually
Rome and now I do despite other things I have heard that didn't appeal. Epstein makes Rome seem like a village community where everyone knows everyone (eventually) and looks out for each other, something that is lacking in most modern western cities. The rituals of food play a huge part in the book, and like Epstein says the Italians say, food is the way to the heart and it keeps the community together. I think it is true. Look at what fast food outlets have done to our society.
On the other hand the book is light on politics and history and art, he tries more than anything to give a family oriented view of living in Rome and in that it succeeds. I would have liked more history with the food, but I did learn two things that I didn't know. James Joyce lived there for a while with his wife and son in 1904 and worked in a bank. One of the houses he rented opposite the spanish stairs,still stands with plaque with his name / boasting Joyce dreamed the story of Ulysses there..(I researched this and discovered Joyce hated the place and couldn't wait to leave - But he did enjoy the non-stop drinking so Rome may well have been the inspiration for "The Dead".) Keats died in Rome and the house he died in carries a plaque to that effect and is a mecca for Keats devotes. I didn't know this and was shocked to learn he died of TB that was wrongly diagnosed. In the middle of the night coughing as I was this seemed even more shocking. Fellini's house in Rome is immortalised with a plaque too and that is fitting as for me Fellini captures the essence of la dolce vita.
The one thing missing is the receipe of Epstein's favourite dish. It would be hard I guess he has so many.
I'd really like to follow Epstein's book with
The Authenticity Hoax: How We Get Lost Finding Ourselves
by Andrew Potter
"a shallow consumerist society built on stratification and one-upmanship that ultimately erodes genuine relationships and true community" - Potter. Wish the library were open now, I'd like to read this following directly on from "As the Romans Do" by Alan Epstein which I've just read. The consumer society and lack of community is why Epstein left America and moved to Rome. Epstein posited that Rome was still operating on values the west had done away with.
bargain = 1 of 29 books for $5.
September 20, 2017
A few dull words about his wife, and page after page about his salacious, lewd, erotic attraction to Italian women, who he describes as "living to be noticed." He belongs in a 12 step program.
July 16, 2015
Congratulations, Alan Epstein- you have managed what very few authors have ever done: made me put down a book without finishing. You see, I'm compulsive about finishing books. I've finished so many terrible books, but not this one. Why? On top of sharing almost nothing substantive or interesting about Romans, you're a total perv, man. This passage nicely sums my need to fling your book forcefully across the room: "The effect was to provide me with a nanosecond's worth of exceedingly soft-core eroticism, as the tops of her well-developed breasts jiggled ever so slightly above the soft demibra she must have been wearing underneath, a seductive act she might have wittingly performed for her husband or lover in the sanctity of a bedroom but that she unwittingly performed for me as she whipped the Fiat around the curve..." Noooooooo.... I could say so, so much more but I think this is adequate to give pause.
Read
March 5, 2013This book is awful. Truly. The author must have mentioned his "frequent" appearances on Oprah at least thirty times. Wretched. Truly.
June 14, 2016
I loved this book. It definitely helped that I'd just returned from Rome, and was so excited to read about the places and streets, quirks and customs I'd already fallen in love with.
I read a ton of travel memoirs each year, and this is one of my all-time favourites. Does it make quite a few sweeping generalizations about Romans, and Italians in general? Yes, but sometimes that's the only way to help foreigners get a feel for another country--Alan wasn't writing this book for Italians.
If you've ever wanted to visit Italy, or have already been, you'll love this book. Actually, if you want to visit Italy, what are you waiting for? Stop reading this and book your ticket. :)
One quibble--I wish Alan had gone into how he was able to move to Italy with his family, etc. As someone who hopes to move to a foreign country soon, I'm very much interested in the details of how people relocate and completely change their lives.
I read a ton of travel memoirs each year, and this is one of my all-time favourites. Does it make quite a few sweeping generalizations about Romans, and Italians in general? Yes, but sometimes that's the only way to help foreigners get a feel for another country--Alan wasn't writing this book for Italians.
If you've ever wanted to visit Italy, or have already been, you'll love this book. Actually, if you want to visit Italy, what are you waiting for? Stop reading this and book your ticket. :)
One quibble--I wish Alan had gone into how he was able to move to Italy with his family, etc. As someone who hopes to move to a foreign country soon, I'm very much interested in the details of how people relocate and completely change their lives.
March 6, 2011
I love books like this. Books where people pick up thier lives to live somewhere else. Especially since this is the way that I would love to travel the world. I would love to be invited into others homes, become a regular at the local bar(in this case), and really get to enjoy the people of a city. I think that Alan Epstein does a particularly good job of immersing me in the people of Rome and his every day encounters with the city. He clearly loves the city and the people that he has met here. I think its really neat that at the time of the writing of the book that he had young children. It lent a unique bend to the book.
May 13, 2017
"As The Romans do " is the original title. This is not about the Romans at all. This is about an American, who cannot stop comparing Rome and it's inhabitants with his American background and life. He vents prejudice, arrogance and narrow-minded opinions and views.
Annoying book.
Annoying book.
April 21, 2017
A lovely vacation book - expats living the dream in Rome.
February 18, 2009
I bought this book thinking it would enhance my cultural grounding prior to a family move to Rome...unfortunately, the book was rather thin in the cultural insights department. The few new cultural insights (some valuable bits centered largely around Italian schooling and parent before/after school socializing) did not make up for the off-putting name dropping throughout the book's pages, nor for the lapses into sexist body-centric descriptions of Italian women...I'd have expected more from an ex-Marin County man. Perhaps my expectations were too high.
January 27, 2016
Up until this point I would say that Fifty Shades of grey was the worst book I have read however now "As the Romans do" is a strong contender for that spot. The inaccuracies, sweeping statements of tripe, pages of xenophobic drivel, his disgusting sense of entitlement and superiority and the terrible, terrible writing make me wonder if it's even worth one star and has irked me enough to write a review to warn you all off reading it!
January 6, 2009
This is a fun book for finding examples of egregiously bad word choice and sentence structure. Nevertheless I devoured it, relishing every detail of the author's daily experiences in my favorite city. Ya gotta respect a guy who's figured out how to support himself and his family (amazingly, with writing) so he can live la dolce vita. I seem to have an unending appetite for books of this nature, and I'm not proud of it.
November 22, 2007
Good, quick read for folks traveling to Rome or just returning. Good insights and explanations of the current (2000) scene by an American who has had a 20 year love affair with Rome and had moved his family there, kids and all. A bit uncritical and very pro Rome, until the end when he regains some balance. Worth a quick read if you are going or coming from Rome.
April 3, 2018
This is the book I wish I had read BEFORE we went to Rome for the first time. While a bit dated (2000 -- and before the Euro or cell phones), it provides an amusing glimpse into the cultural differences between America and Italy. It also provided a great walk down memory lane to "revisit" the sights that we had seen on a family visit a few summers back. A great pre-read for a Roman holiday -- or even if you are just curious about what life in Italy is like. I thoroughly enjoyed the honesty and candor of the writer and his family stories.
July 16, 2018
Sweet and interesting paean to the city and culture of Rome. A bit dated now and he indicates back in 2009 that things are already deviating from Roman norm: "The signs in Rome are pointing in a certain direction, and that does not bode well for la dolce vita, the leisurely way of life that has characterized this city for a long time....the links to the old ways are diminishing...a life based on family and modest income in exchange for lots of free time is being shown the door." I am on my way to Rome so I am hoping i can still find remnants of the culture he so loved.
September 8, 2010
This book is a collection of stories about daily life in Rome as an American. It offered very little new in the memoir genre and it was poorly written and poorly organized. I was interested in a few parts of the book, but mostly I found his essays boring. He wrote an entire essay about an hour long jog he likes to take on Sunday mornings. Boring. He is also a huge fan of cliches, not something I appreciate.
May 18, 2009
I bought it while visiting Rome - as the city didn't have the effect on me that I thought it would, I brought home this book to try to understand the love that this American has to that city. He puts it well, he convinces that Rome is special, he proves his love to this city, but love is love, we cannot choose it, and my own impression remains the same.
December 7, 2008
Fluff of the First Degree.
If I had the time, I'd simply re-write it with guts.
Entertaining for "gosh-gee kind of folk", but has it's winsome charm.
You know he's hopeless when he gets excited over a bouncing boob when a lady driver takes speed bump at close range -- ooh-la-la! Raceeee...
If I had the time, I'd simply re-write it with guts.
Entertaining for "gosh-gee kind of folk", but has it's winsome charm.
You know he's hopeless when he gets excited over a bouncing boob when a lady driver takes speed bump at close range -- ooh-la-la! Raceeee...
May 23, 2013
Spoiled wealthy family moves to Rome.
January 6, 2025
Started: 14 December 2024
DNF: 6 January 2025 @ 48%
After pushing myself to continue because 1) I did not want to end 2024 with a DNF and 2) I did not want to start 2025 with a DNF, I had an epiphany!
1) I do not have enough decades left of life to justify completing any task that I do not enjoy. That is work, and I already have one job.
2) Nobody cares if I read or if I DNF a book.
3) DNF-ing a book at the start or end of a year will not have any impact on the outcome of that year.
I still want to know more about life in Rome, but rather than slog through Epstein's snoozy essays, I will ask my Italian tutor to tell me about his life in Rome.
DNF: 6 January 2025 @ 48%
After pushing myself to continue because 1) I did not want to end 2024 with a DNF and 2) I did not want to start 2025 with a DNF, I had an epiphany!
1) I do not have enough decades left of life to justify completing any task that I do not enjoy. That is work, and I already have one job.
2) Nobody cares if I read or if I DNF a book.
3) DNF-ing a book at the start or end of a year will not have any impact on the outcome of that year.
I still want to know more about life in Rome, but rather than slog through Epstein's snoozy essays, I will ask my Italian tutor to tell me about his life in Rome.
February 4, 2023
I would give it zero if I could. men need banned from writing books that include women bc ??? what is wrong with this guy. Felt like I was reading a “why I should cheat on my wife with Italian women” essay. grown man with a wife and children writing about how sexy italian women are. vividly describing their boobs, legs, how they smoke and dress and hold themselves. weird. honestly would not have finished reading if I hadn’t bought this book but at least I got it used so this author gets none of my money. aside from him being a perv I was just not entertained. :( would not recommend
May 28, 2019
LOVED story of the family who moved to Italy. Sometimes I think about doing it permanently, but if I did, it would definitely have to be with a family and not on my own. One day, maybe. In the meantime, I can read delightful stories like this.
May 19, 2019
Picked this book up at the Leonardo da Vinci International Airport last summer, right before returning home to the U.S. after a two week vacation in Italy. Having only spent one night in Rome, it felt like the city and I were a misconnection. We had enough time together to sprout curiosity and wonder, but not enough time to truly get antiquated. It was a joy to experience Rome through Alan's eyes. His experiences and culture comparisons shared a part of Rome I missed during my short visit.
Since the book was written more than 20 years ago, I would love a "reboot" from Alan. How has Rome and its culture changed or not changed over the last two decades? I'd love to know!
Since the book was written more than 20 years ago, I would love a "reboot" from Alan. How has Rome and its culture changed or not changed over the last two decades? I'd love to know!
August 18, 2017
At first, I read this because a friend's late father wrote it. My friend's favorite selection out of all of his dad's books was this.
Having read it, I would recommend it for its rapturous, whimsical descriptions of an American family's experience of true Roman life in The Eternal City in the 1990s. The vignettes each serve to take one seemingly mundane aspect of daily life in Rome and transform it into an enthralling history lesson, drama, hilarious comparative study on different societies and their quirks, or a beautiful crystallization of a metropolis, nation, and civilization perched at the precipice of the Digital Age, and of the European Unionizing of the continent.
The chapter about the author's early Sunday morning solo runs throughout the city could stand all on its own - it's something I would recommend to anyone who loves to run, do anything active, wonder at scenery/heritage, read great writing, or seize the day.
Through his reverence for a great city, he reveals the memoir of a great man who found his own slice of la dolce vita and shared it in communion with his dear family.
I visited Rome ever so briefly in 2002, when I was 20 years old with an attitude problem. Even back then, I was able to discern the city's undeniably redeeming and impressive qualities, but this book has retroactively increased my appreciation of those experiences and ignited an itch to return to the place, no matter how much it must have mutated since the time of writing.
Having read it, I would recommend it for its rapturous, whimsical descriptions of an American family's experience of true Roman life in The Eternal City in the 1990s. The vignettes each serve to take one seemingly mundane aspect of daily life in Rome and transform it into an enthralling history lesson, drama, hilarious comparative study on different societies and their quirks, or a beautiful crystallization of a metropolis, nation, and civilization perched at the precipice of the Digital Age, and of the European Unionizing of the continent.
The chapter about the author's early Sunday morning solo runs throughout the city could stand all on its own - it's something I would recommend to anyone who loves to run, do anything active, wonder at scenery/heritage, read great writing, or seize the day.
Through his reverence for a great city, he reveals the memoir of a great man who found his own slice of la dolce vita and shared it in communion with his dear family.
I visited Rome ever so briefly in 2002, when I was 20 years old with an attitude problem. Even back then, I was able to discern the city's undeniably redeeming and impressive qualities, but this book has retroactively increased my appreciation of those experiences and ignited an itch to return to the place, no matter how much it must have mutated since the time of writing.
August 22, 2016
Definitely not an odyssey. Definitely not quite an adventure, but Epstein does give a good glimpse into Italian culture. I was hoping for a story, not a compare/contrast between the Italian culture and that of the United States. In fact, that compare/contrast is my biggest complaint -- how many times can I be hit over the head with the fact Epstein prefers the Italian culture? I get it. In fact, I imagine that's probably why Epstein chose to live there (as he often reminds the reader), but enough already! Other than that, some of the anecdotes were cute and entertaining, but really nothing noteworthy. I wish Epstein included a map with a tracing of the few routes he describes in the book. I got mentally lost as he describes various walks, runs, and roadtrips. All in all, an okay book, and definitely one that gets into the Romani culture, usually by bringing down other cultures.
August 22, 2015
I enjoyed reading about Italian culture and mostly just remembering some fragment of my days spent in Italy in college, but as others have mentioned, Epstein seems to think a little highly of himself for my taste, and he also takes it for granted that a woman on a scooter who goes over a bump and whose body consequentially follows the motion of the bump was doing such an oh-so-wild action specifically for his "soft core" pleasure to see her breasts jiggle. That was weird and ENTIRELY unnecessary. I enjoyed many other parts of the book but that one chapter dedicated to him watching Roman women and writing down what he saw was quite off putting.
September 10, 2010
A tribute to the Eternal City, each chapter of this book takes on a characteristic of Rome or the romani people. Written by a Jewish-American living with his family in Catholic Rome, his musings on Italian dress, the culture of mammoni (mama's boys) or the passion for soccer leave the reader with a palpable sense of his admiration and love of Rome. While this wasn't so much the travel memoir I expected--really more essays about Rome--and the author tends to write convoluted sentences, it was still a fun getaway.
April 10, 2012
Beautifully written by one who so obviously loves Rome. Many aspects reminded me of my time living in Florence, as some of the idiosyncrasies of Rome and Romans apply to Italians as a whole. I found myself rereading parts or reading it very slowly because of the poetic writing...even stopping at times to praise Epstein for writing with such care about this place I so love too. I know I am being a bit gooey about it, but I even loved the smell of my book copy and felt such a desire to hug it after finishing.
March 3, 2007
Great book about an American family that moves to Rome and how they adjust to daily life. Alan Epstein brings modern Roman life to life- when I read this book I had just gotten back from Rome myself so it was great to read. The most true thing that he says is that Rome gets under your skin and makes you want to return again and again- it may take a few years or even a few visits but eventually it gets to you. very true.
July 15, 2012
I read this book because we moved to Rome and I thought it would help me understand the city. It did and I enjoyed it. I read it every so often, usually when I was tying to understand something I observed around me. It is an easy read,and it can be put down and picked up as needed. Funny and true to life in Rome!
July 6, 2015
I only chose this book based on the title. I didn't know it was going to be a book about a man's life in Rome after moving from California. This book contains short stories about his and his family's experiences in Rome. Overall, interesting, but I wonder if some of the culture is still the same since this was written 15 years ago.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews