Welcome to Litsy!

A “marvelous” Mediterranean memoir of an expatriate father raising his children in Italy (The Washington Post). From the author of Italian Neighbors, this is another sparkling account of Italian society and culture—this time focusing on all the little things that turn an ordinary newborn infant into a true Italiano. When British-born Tim Parks heard a mother at the beach in Pescara shout to her son, “Alberto, don’t sweat! No you can’t go in the sea till eleven, it’s still too cold, go and see your cousin in row 3 number 52,” he was inspired to write about parenting in Italy—which he was doing himself at the time after adopting the country as his own. In this humorous memoir, Parks immerses himself in family life at home, in the classroom, and at church, creating an enchanting portrait of Italian childhood that shifts from comedy to despair in the time it takes to sing a lullaby. The result is “a wry, thoughtful, and often hilarious book . . . a parable of how our children, no matter what, are other than ourselves” (The New Yorker). “Glimpses of Italy that are fond, critical, pithy and penetrating.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution