FLORENCE, A DELICATE CASE. - Hardcover

Leavitt, David.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0747558140 ISBN 13: 9780747558149

Publisher: BLOOMSBURY., 2002

Synopsis

'Florence is the only European city I can think of whose most famous citizens, at least in the last 150 years or so, have all been foreigners.' Thus David Leavitt writes in this lively account of expatriate life in the city of the lily. His narrative begins by asking why Florence has always proven to be such a popular destination for suicides, then moves into an analysis of what makes the city, in Henry James's words, such a 'delicate case.' Why, for instance, has Florence always drawn so many English and American visitors. (At the turn of the century, the Anglo-American population numbered more than 30,000.) Why have men and women fleeing sex scandal traditionally settled here? What about Florence has made it so fascinating and so repellent - to artists and writers over the years? Moving between present and past, Leavitt's narrative limns the history of the foreign colony from its origins in the middle of the nineteenth century until its demise under Mussolini, and considers the appeal of Florence to figures as diverse as Tchaikovsky, E. M. Forster, Ronald Firbank, Mary McCarthy, Mrs Keppel (mistress to King Edward VII) and Henry Labouchere, author of the Labouchere Amendment, under the provisions of which Oscar Wilde was convicted.

About this title

About the Author:

DAVID LEAVITT's books include the collection Family Dancing and the novels The Lost Language of Cranes, While England Sleeps, The Body of Jonah Boyd, The Indian Clerk (finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award), and, most recently, The Two Hotel Francforts. He is also the author of a biography of Alan Turing, The Man Who Knew Too Much. He is professor of English at the University of Florida in Gainesville and edits the literary magazine Subtropics.

About this edition

• Publisher: BLOOMSBURY.
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0747558140
• ISBN 13: 9780747558149
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192