Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World
Anthony Doerr and his wife moved to Rome after he was awarded the prestigious Rome Prize, which entitled him to a year spent writing at the American Academy of Arts and Letters in Rome.
The couple brought their infant twins, Owen and Henry, and much of the book is filled with Doerr's wonder at their antics: trying to eat electrical plugs; staying up all night crying; and reducing old Italian men to cooing, teary-eyed friends. Through Doerr's eyes, Rome is rendered in a romantic yet realistic hue.
Quote:
"It's the puzzle of Rome that mesmerizes: its patience, its stratigraphy, Tiber mud gumming up the past, wind carrying dust from Africa, rain pulling down ruins, and the accumulated weight of centuries compacting everything tighter, transubstantiating all stones into one."
Author:
Anthony Doerr was born in Cleveland, Ohio. In addition to Four Seasons in Rome, he is the author of The Shell Collector, Memory Wall, About Grace and the Pulitzer-Prize-winning All the Light We Cannot See.
Published: 2007
Length: 210 pages
Set in: Rome, Italy