A Thousand Bells at Noon: A Roman's Guide to the Secrets and Pleasures of His Native City

by G. Franco Romagnoli

G. Franco Romagnoli, the coauthor of The Romagnolis Table and The New Romagnolis Table, left Rome in his late twenties to seek his fortune as a documentary filmmaker in America. But the love of his native city took him home repeatedly for visits. A Thousand Bells at Noon is his revealing guide to contemporary Rome. From the great churches and palazzos to the small apartments and crowded streets, Romagnoli shares all of Romes charms and contradictions. He takes readers along as he sips an espresso at a sidewalk cafe, swims in the Tiber River, and revisits the streets he explored as a boy. Romagnolis passion for his birthplace is highly contagious.

Genres: Italy, Travel, Nonfiction

300 pages, Hardcover

First published January 22, 2002

About the author

G. Franco Romagnoli, an accomplished chef and restaurateur, was born, raised, and educated in Rome, and moved to the United States in 1955. From 1974 to 1976, he and his late wife, Margaret, wrote and starred in The Romagnolis' Table, a television series on Italian cooking. Their cookbook of the same name and its sequel, The New Romagnolis' Table, have sold nearly 400,000 copies, and for ten years they owned three four-star restaurants in the Boston area. Romagnoli is the author of numerous cookbooks, a frequent contributor of articles on food and travel to newspapers and magazines, and a culinary arts professor at Boston University. Widowed in 1995, he remarried in 1998 to Gwen, a lawyer and writer.

Reviews

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Want to know what Rome is like? Ask a Roman.

G. Franco Romagnoli explores his Rome and his people via eating, health, fountains, death, and faith.

It's a deeply personal and deeply true book.

[Elise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting behind the scenes of living in Rome.
Based in his info, don't know if I'd live there. Traffic, bureauocracy and the medical system seem hard for Americans to deal with. Nice place to visit, though

[Sarah Pascarella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant and insightful vignettes about life in Rome, covering the city's joys and frustrations in equal measure. I most enjoyed Romagnoli's sections on food and religion, and he also taught me a great term - menefreghisti - which refers to "the dearth of civic education in a large portion of the population, the lack of concern for anyone but oneself." I will be incorporating this into my vocabulary moving forward.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

One mans stories about the the sites and life in the city of Rome.

[Danita M · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author's love of the city comes through on every page, and makes you want to be there with him so he can actually show you these things. It was not, however, enthralling, and portions I found fairly boring.
I'm glad I read it (especially shortly before a quick visit to Rome), but I'm not sure I'd recommend it.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

When not in Rome, this is the book I read and re-read. I never noticed the church bells in Rome until I read this book. I had no idea that Rome has a Chinatown or shortage of gardeners. Most evocative among the black and white photos is the statue introducing Chapter IX "To Die in Rome = Morire a Roma"

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my goodness....this book made me miss Italy so much. The cover here shows the staircase at the Vatican (which I've walked) but my cover showed Castel San Angelo, where I have also been. I can't wait to go back....the author just shared stories of experiences and history and facts of his sweet city of Roma. LOVE.

[Cerealflakes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a series of essays the author wrote about returning to Rome after living in the US for years. Some of the chapters are more interesting than others, but it's easy to skip around. This book had much more "insider's knowledge" than you would get from a regular travel book.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting examination of Rome from an "insider" rather than a traveler. Romagnoli was born and raised in Rome but work took him to America. Years later he returned with his second wife to spend six months in the city. I enjoyed the chapters on Italian healthcare and Roman fountains.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Thousand Bells at Noon is an affectionate, intelligent essay about the city of this transplanted Roman's birth. Loosely organized by chapter into various topics.

[Tala · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sections about Roman bureaucracy overwhelmed the other parts; I enjoyed the descriptions of the layers of new upon old and I didn't know about the Jewish section at all. I liked it.

[Faye · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Roman's guide to the secrets and pleasures of his native city.