Culture & History

Never Trust a Thin Cook and Other Lessons from Italy's Culinary Capital
By Eric Dregni

What begins as a journey through Italy's rich culinary traditions soon becomes a revealing portrait of how Italians live and how their culture differs from America's. A professor of English at Concordia University in Minnesota, author Dregni spent two years in Modena, the "culinary capital" in the title. There he delved into the lore of Modena's famous balsamic vinegar, rich polenta, and even chocolate salami. He learns never to mix basil and oregano or cut up his spaghetti...it spoils the taste, he's told. Anecdotes about his adventures and mishaps abound in this book about life in unpredictable Italy. [$22.95; hardcover; 240 pages; University of Minnesota Press]

The Roman Forum
By David Watkin

Today, the Roman Forum is mainly a tourist attraction, but once this site, no bigger than a football field, was the religious, political and economic center of Ancient Rome. It began as a swamp, drained in the 7th century B.C., and eventually housed temples, shops, the Senate and even private homes and brothels. Here Julius Caesar's body was cremated; Marc Anthony and Cicero railed against conspiracies and victorious emperors held parades. After the fall of Rome, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque buildings were added to it. Author Watkin captures the history and reincarnations of one of the most famous pieces of real estate in history. [$19.95; hardcover; 288 pages; Harvard University Press]

The Secret Sin of Opi
By Peter D. Cimini

Why do good people do bad things? In his novel, author Cimini explores this contradiction in the story of a terrible abduction. In 1947, Daniel Ciarletta and his father, Pete, leave America to visit Pete's ailing father in Italy. But Daniel is kidnapped and taken to a rural mountain town that had lost all its able-bodied boys and men during the war. Now the townspeople imprison young foreigners to take the place of the men they have lost. Daniel and six other young boys spend the next 22 years as slaves. Meantime, in America, his family falls apart, not knowing if Daniel is alive or dead. [$24.95; hardcover; 300 pages; Robert Reed Publishers]

Italy Revisited: Conversations with My Mother
By Mary Melfi

In a unique approach to memoirs, Mary Melfi writes her autobiography as a double memoir in a conversation between herself and her mother. In the process, readers become eye witnesses to life in a southern Italian village at the turn of the 20th century. The narrative also explores the complexities of mother-daughter relationships, especially those found in immigrant families. [$23; soft cover; 332 pages; Guernica Editions Inc.]

Brava, Valentine
By Adriana Trigiani

In the sequel to Very Valentine, popular author Trigiani re-introduces Valentine Roncalli, who begins her career as president of her grandmother's firm, the "Angelini Shoe Company." Juggling her career, love life and passion for family, Valentine embarks on the next phase of her life, finding an adventure in Argentina that challenges and changes her. In Buenos Aires, she discovers a deeply hidden family scandal that could change the Roncallis forever. [$25.99; soft cover; 352 pages; Harper.]