Back to Bologna

Back to Bologna
Author: Michael Dibdin
Publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
Total Pages: 231
Release: 2006-09-12
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0307278166

In the latest installment in his critically acclaimed Italian mystery series, Michael Didbin sends Aurelio Zen to Italy’s culinary capital, Bologna, where he discovers that some cases are not quite what they appear to be. When the corpse of the shady Bologna industrialist who owns the local football team is found both shot and stabbed with a Parmesan knife, Aurelio Zen is summoned to oversee the investigation. Anxious for a break from his girlfriend, who attributes Zen’s slow recovery from routine surgery to hypochondria, he is only too happy to take on what first appears to be an undemanding assignment. The case quickly spins out of control, becoming entangled with the fates of a student semiotics, a mysterious immigrant claiming to be royalty, and Bologna’s most incompetent private detective. Meanwhile a prominent postmodern academic accuses Italy’s leading celebrity chef of being a fraud. Back to Bologna is dazzlingly plotted and delivers both comic and serious insights into the realities of today’s Italy.

Bologna Reflections

Bologna Reflections
Author: Mary Tolaro Noyes
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2009-07-01
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 0578016834

BOLOGNA REFLECTIONS: AN UNCOMMON GUIDE provides the visitor to Bologna with a different approach to encountering a remarkable city. The walking itineraries explore its historical and artististic heritage and point out hidden treasures not often found in traditional guidebooks. The tourist and the armchair traveler alike visit Bologna through the stories that reveal the heart and soul of the Bolognese people, who become the real guides to their city and past. Original drawings and art invoke Bologna's medieval past and celebrate her modern charm, as the visitor meanders in the unknown corners of a seductive city. Practical information, including maps of relevant neighborhoods, assists the traveler in planning the visit and experiencing the city during the sojourn. A more extensive, up-to-date website supports the practical information, which will continue to assist the traveler for future visits to the Citta Rossa.

Medusa

Medusa
Author: Michael Dibdin
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2008-09-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0571246028

'Escapism of a high order.' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY 'A slyly intelligent page turner.' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY AN AURELIO ZEN MYSTERY When a group of Austrian cavers in the Italian Alps come across human remains at the bottom of a deep shaft, everyone assumes the death was accidental - until the still unidentified body is stolen from the morgue and the Defence Ministry puts a news blackout on the case. The whole affair has the whiff of political intrigue. That's enough to interest Aurelio Zen's boss at the Interior Ministry, who wants to know who is hiding what from who and why. The search for the truth leads Zen into the murky history of post-war Italy and obscure corners of modern-day society to uncover the truth about a crime that everyone thought was as dead and buried as the victim. 'As the plot quickens, we are soon deep in Dibdin's favourite territory: the murky political conflicts of Italy's past and the oily chicanery of its present.' SUNDAY TIMES 'Dibdin's misanthropic wit finds plenty to play with.' GUARDIAN 'A terrific detective story.' 5* reader review 'Beautifully written . . . You get a real sense of the turbulence in the Italian state during that era.' 5* reader review 'MEDUSA is the best I've read so far, with a complex but pleasing plot.' 5* reader review PRAISE FOR MICHAEL DIBDIN AND THE INSPECTOR ZEN SERIES: 'He wrote with real fire.' IAN RANKIN 'A maestro of crime writing.' SUNDAY TIMES 'One of the genre's finest stylists . . . And Zen himself is a masterly creation: he is anti-heroic and pragmatic but obstinate, cunning and positively burdened with integrity.' GUARDIAN 'Dibdin tells a rollicking good tale that you want both to read fast, because of its gripping storyline, and to linger over, to savour the evocative descriptions of place and mood.' INDEPENDENT 'One of British crime fiction's most distinguished and distinctive voices.' ANDREW TAYLOR 'Dibdin has a gift for shocking the unshockable reader.' Ruth Rendell 'Zen is one of the greatest creations of contemporary crime fiction.' OBSERVER 'I love the way these books capture the atmosphere and contradictions of Italy.' 5* reader review 'Aurelio Zen novels are a great treat.' 5* reader review 'There is no better writer than Dibdin. His books are a joy to read.' 5* reader review 'Love these books . . . I am sure you will get hooked too!' 5* reader review

Il Bel Centro

Il Bel Centro
Author: Michelle Damiani
Publisher: Rialto Press
Total Pages: 514
Release: 2020-08-09
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 8835880866

A witty and warm-hearted memoir of abandoning fast-paced American days in favor of discovering the Italian secrets of food, community, and life. Moving across the globe meant Michelle Damiani soon found herself untangling Italian customs, delighting in glorious regional cuisine (recipes included), and creating lasting friendships. From grandmothers eager to teach the ancient art of pasta making, to bakers tossing bread into fiery ovens with a song, to butchers extolling the benefits of pork fat, Il Bel Centro is rich with captivating characters and cultural insights. Throw in clinking glasses of Umbrian red with the local communists and a village all-nighter decorating the cobblestone streets with flower petals; as well as embarrassing language minefields and a serious summons to the mayor’s office, and you have all the ingredients for a spellbinding travel tale. Exquisitely observed, Il Bel Centro is an intimate celebration of small town Italy, as well as a thoughtful look at raising a family in a new culture and a fascinating story of finding a home. Ultimately though, this is a story about how travel can change you when you’re ready to let it. With laugh-out-loud situations and wanderlust-inspiring storytelling, Il Bel Centro is a joyous and life-affirming read that will have readers rushing to renew their passports. “This is one of the most beautiful book I’ve ever read.” “I absolutely couldn’t get enough of this book.” “This book made me want to pack my bags.” “I loved, loved this book. Fabulously written, engaging, and entertaining.” “A magical read.”

Cosi Fan Tutti

Cosi Fan Tutti
Author: Michael Dibdin
Publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
Total Pages: 318
Release: 2008-12-30
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0307555380

An Aurelio Zen Novel Michael Dibdin's overburdened Italian police inspector has been transferred to Naples, where the rule of law is so lax that a police station may double as a brothel. But this time, having alienated superiors with his impolitic zealousness in every previous posting, Zen is determined not to make waves. Too bad an American sailor (who may be neither American nor a sailor) knifes one of his opposite numbers in Naples's harbor, and some local garbage collectors have taken to moonlighting in homicide. And when Zen becomes embroiled in a romantic intrigue involving love-sick gangsters and prostitutes who pass themselves off as Albanian refugees, all Naples comes to resemble the set of the Mozart opera of the same title. Bawdy, suspenseful, and splendidly farcical, the result is an irresistible offering from a maestro of mystery.

Buffalo Bill in Bologna

Buffalo Bill in Bologna
Author: Robert W. Rydell
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 222
Release: 2010-06-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 0226732347

When it comes to the production and distribution of mass culture, no country in modern times has come close to rivaling the success of America. From blue jeans in central Europe to Elvis Presley's face on a Republic of Chad postage stamp, the reach of American mass culture extends into every corner of the globe. Most believe this is a twentieth-century phenomenon, but here Robert W. Rydell and Rob Kroes prove that its roots are far deeper. Buffalo Bill in Bologna reveals that the process of globalizing American mass culture began as early as the mid-nineteenth century. In fact, by the end of World War I, the United States already boasted an advanced network of culture industries that served to promote American values. Rydell and Kroes narrate how the circuses, amusement parks, vaudeville, mail-order catalogs, dime novels, and movies developed after the Civil War—tools central to hastening the reconstruction of the country—actually doubled as agents of American cultural diplomacy abroad. As symbols of America's version of the "good life," cultural products became a primary means for people around the world, especially in Europe, to reimagine both America and themselves in the context of America's growing global sphere of influence. Paying special attention to the role of the world's fairs, the exporting of Buffalo Bill's Wild West show to Europe, the release of The Birth of a Nation, and Woodrow Wilson's creation of the Committee on Public Information, Rydell and Kroes offer an absorbing tour through America's cultural expansion at the turn of the century. Buffalo Bill in Bologna is thus a tour de force that recasts what has been popularly understood about this period of American and global history.

Dead Lagoon

Dead Lagoon
Author: Michael Dibdin
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2011-01-06
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0571274137

'A rollicking good tale.' INDEPENDENT 'A first-rate mystery.' WASHINGTON POST AN AURELIO ZEN MYSTERY Aurelio Zen returns to his native Venice in an unofficial capacity, to investigate the disappearance of an American millionaire. But he is quickly reminded that, amid the hazy light and shifting waters of the lagoon, nothing is what it seems. As he is drawn deeper into the ambiguous mysteries surrounding the discovery of a skeletal corpse, he is also forced to confront a series of disturbing revelations about his own life. 'Absolutely brilliant . . . made me want to go back to travel in Italy again.' 5* reader review 'I loved this book . . . a good storyline, and enough twists to keep me guessing.' 5* reader review 'Perfect entertainment.' 5* reader review 'My personal favourite in a great series.' 5* reader review PRAISE FOR MICHAEL DIBDIN AND THE INSPECTOR ZEN SERIES: 'He wrote with real fire.' IAN RANKIN 'A maestro of crime writing.' SUNDAY TIMES 'One of the genre's finest stylists . . . And Zen himself is a masterly creation: he is anti-heroic and pragmatic but obstinate, cunning and positively burdened with integrity.' GUARDIAN 'Dibdin tells a rollicking good tale that you want both to read fast, because of its gripping storyline, and to linger over, to savour the evocative descriptions of place and mood.' INDEPENDENT 'One of British crime fiction's most distinguished and distinctive voices.' ANDREW TAYLOR 'Dibdin has a gift for shocking the unshockable reader.' Ruth Rendell 'Zen is one of the greatest creations of contemporary crime fiction.' OBSERVER 'I love the way these books capture the atmosphere and contradictions of Italy.' 5* reader review 'Aurelio Zen novels are a great treat.' 5* reader review 'There is no better writer than Dibdin. His books are a joy to read.' 5* reader review 'Love these books . . . I am sure you will get hooked too!' 5* reader review

Blood Rain

Blood Rain
Author: Michael Dibdin
Publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
Total Pages: 285
Release: 2009-10-07
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0307554740

Aurelio Zen—cynical and tough, yet worn down from years of law enforcement—has just been given the worst assignment he could imagine. He has been sent to the heart of hostile territory: Sicily, the ancient, beautiful island where blood has been known to flow like wine, and the distinction between the police and the criminals is a fine one. Even worse, he has been sent to spy on the elite anti-Mafia squad.The only thing that makes the job palatable—and takes his mind off routine details like the rotting body found in a remote train car—is that Zen's adopted daughter, Carla, is also in town. But life becomes precarious for Carla when she stumbles upon some information she'd be better off not knowing and befriends a local magistrate on the Mafia's most wanted list. What ensues is a breakneck plot of amazing complexity that culminates in a stunning finale. Blood Rain, emotionally gripping and defiantly original, is surely one of Dibdin's finest works.

Italian Chic

Italian Chic
Author: Andrea Ferolla
Publisher: Assouline Publishing
Total Pages: 6
Release: 2018-07-01
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1614286809

Italy is a country synonymous with style and beauty in all aspects of life: the rich history of Rome, Renaissance art of Florence, graceful canals of Venice, high fashion of Milan, signature pasta alla bolognese of Bologna, colorful architecture of Portofino and winking blue waters of Capri and the Amalfi Coast, among many others. Italians themselves live effortlessly amid all this splendor, knowing instinctively just the type of outfit to throw on, design element to balance, or delectable ingredient to add.

The Curse of the Bologna Sandwich

The Curse of the Bologna Sandwich
Author: Greg Trine
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 148
Release: 2006-05-30
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9780805078367

After graduating from the superhero academy, Melvin Beederman heads for Los Angeles, where he unexpectedly teams up with Candace Brinkwater, school play actress, to nab the evil McNasty Brothers.