The World Cracks Open For Those Willing

What Has Impressed Me The Most About The Italians Whose Tables We've Sat At Is That They Are Traditional Cooks But Also Outrageously Innovative. These People Are Wild Improvisers.

I Had The Urge To Examine My Life In Another Culture And Move Beyond What I Knew.

Splendid To Arrive Alone In A Foreign Country And Feel The Assault Of Difference. Here They Are All Along, Busy With Living; They Don't Talk Or Look Like Me. The Rhythm Of Their Day Is Entirely Different; I Am Foreign.

When I Was Twelve, I Started Reading Eudora Welty, Thomas Wolfe, Flannery O'connor, James Agee, And - Do We Dare Breathe The Name - William Faulkner.

Living In A Small Italian Hilltown, And Having Lived In A Small Town In South Georgia, I Understand That You Can Recognize A Family Gene Pool By The Lift Of An Eyebrow, Or The Length Of A Neck, Or A Way Of Walking.