Xenophobe's Guide to the Italians Paperback – July 1, 2008

I bought this little book as a gift for a friend who was about to travel to Italy. She said it was a funway to learn a little about Italy and the Italian.s

I got turned on to this series by reading Xenophobe's Guide to the Dutch, which is a hilarious and enjoyable read. This one isn't quite up to the same standard of humor, but is a good primer on modern Italian culture, useful for tourists and the curious more than serious students. These books strike a delicate balancing act between telling you PC-washed nothing on one hand, and spouting offensive stereotypes on the other, and I think they do it well. I'm going to Italy shortly - half the reason I bought the book in the first place - and it shall be seen how useful this guide turns out to be.

This (small) book is good and funny, albeit if you can go pass it's stereotypical nature. As a matter of fact, all the Xenophobe's Guide "series" are of the same theme. Besides the funny side of the book I found it instructive that, from my observations, the book is also about day to day believes that people have and/or act on.

Like the rest of the Xenophobe guides, the Italian book provides an easy introduction to the foibles and stereotypes of the country's inhabitants. Of course there is something to offend every Italian, as in all the Xenophobe series, but the humorous approach and obvious overstatement makes it clear these are generalizations carried to extremes. However, the insights into the national character are real.

Clever and insightful.

Fantastic! Funny and insightful.

Perfetto!

Nice