Midnight in Sicily: on Art, Food, History, Travel and La Cosa Nostra

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did everyone else know that Andreotti, who won seven elections serving as Italy's PM was also Cosa Nostra's protector in Rome for decades.

The top 10 books about Italy | History books | The Guardian The top 10 books about Italy | History books | The Guardian

At first, I think it was some kind of white elephant construction half-finished left to decay and fall. The artist undoubtedly expresses the idea that art is all around us; all we need to do is recognise it. Here is a quick description and cover image of book Midnight in Sicily written by Peter Robb which was published in 1996–.

I was happy to get the opportunity to journey to Palermo by train and walk around for a few hours to give me my first taste of the city. One of the greatest charms of Robb's book is his evident delight in southern Italy, particularly its food, which is recorded with such intensity of memory that one can almost taste it. Where else in Europe do you find an organised crime syndicate like the ‘ndrangheta, which uses rites that are grotesque parodies of Roman Catholic liturgy? His first-hand accounts of his visits to some inland Sicilian villages, and of the historical quarters of Naples, are beautiful. Instead what we're left with is an account of political thugs like Giulio Andreotti (Italy's former Prime Minister) and then 5 pages on children visiting a museum in Palermo and being told by their guide of the beauty of a particular sculpture's buttocks.

Midnight in Sicily: On Art, Food, History, Travel and la Cosa

As someone whose cultural hinterland stops at a couple of Edward Hopper prints slung up on the lounge wall these can be tiresome - but they can also be skipped through. A lot of outsiders – content to visit its museums, to holiday in placid Umbria and cultured Tuscany – are happy to leave it at that.There is exceptional insight, knowledge and articulation in both love of the good and tolerance and understanding of the bad. It is eternally deceptive; a country in which much is said by means of symbols, or simply left unsaid. New York Times wrote that " Midnight in Sicily is packed densely with events and characters that remain distinct even as Robb skips through time and place. We understand that not everyone can donate right now, but if you can afford to contribute, we promise it will be put to good use.