ALMOST FRENCH by Sarah Turnbull

944.361

TUR

When Sarah Turnbull, a young Australian journalist on sabbatical in Europe, meets Frederic, a Frenchman (complete with ascot), little does she realize that she is about to embark on a lifelong love affair with him and his native city of Paris. Full of amusing anecdotes about her skirmishes with prickly Parisians, Turnbull sheds light on the French love of aesthetics and the countryside as well as their perplexing behavior at cocktail parties. By the time she and Frederic decide to marry, Turnbull has developed a real understanding of his country, so much so that she feels "almost French."

DAVE BARRY DOES JAPAN by Dave Barry

818.5402

BAR

After a short vacation in Japan funded by his publisher, Barry wrote this very entertaining report of his findings. His encounters and sometimes clashes with Japanese culture give the comic plenty of material. Barry sometimes criticizes and often praises his host country, but always evokes a laugh. One serious and touching passage describes his visit to Hiroshima, including the memorial.

THE RELUCTANT TUSCAN by Phil Doran, 2005

945.5

DOR

Phil Doran, a tv script writer living in California, gets a telephone call from his wife Nancy, who is working on a marble sculpture in Italy. She tells him she has bought a house in Tuscany and asks that he come to see it immediately. Nancy feels that Phil is burnt out and needs to make a serious life change. Upon arrival Phil discovers that the house is a hovel without running water or electricity. Thus begins Phil's journey through the forest of Italian red tape necessary to make their home habitable. Phil has no patience with how things are done and complains bitterly and often until the day Nancy and he are involved in a car accident. He realizes he almost lost his life and vows to change.

This highly amusing memoir is fun to read as it gives a wonderful view of the drama of Italian life, families and of course, the cuisine.

A YEAR IN THE WORLD by Frances Mayes

910.4

May

Frances Mayes leaves her Tuscan home to travel.. Her journeys are primarily in the Mediterranean area and are as beautifully described as her home in Cortona has been in her previous bestselling books. She and her husband Ed like Portugal, Naples, Sicily, Capri, and the coast of Turkey. They are less enthusiastic about Fex, Morocco, where Ed succumbs to food poisoning. But even when adversity strikes, the journeys are fascinating.

THE SEX LIVES OF CANNIBALS: ADRIFT IN THE EQUATORIAL PACIFIC, by J. Maarten Troost

996.81

TRO

Troost debunks the myth of the South Sea island paradise in this hilarious account of the two years he and his wife spent on the Pacific atoll of Kiribati. Just as funny as Bill Bryson, Troost has found lots of material to work with on this Third World island ignored by the rest of the world. He and his wife survive years of eating only fish, no coffee, and music which is a constant replay of "La Macarena" to become truly fond of the Kiribati people by the time they leave to return to the United States.