Italian Hours

There are times and places that come back yet again, but that, when the brooding tourist puts out his hand to them, meet it a little slowly, or even seem to recede a step, as if in slight fear of some liberty he may take. Surely they should know by this time that he is capable of taking none. He has his own way--he makes it all right. It now becomes just a part of the charming solicitation that it presents precisely a problem--that of giving the particular thing as much as possible without at the same time giving it, as we say, away.

Booknews

The 22 essays in Henry James's Italian hours represent a type of travel writing that provides a journey through time as much as over terrain. This first fully annotated edition presents unique insights into the way 19th-century Europe was rapidly changing during James's life as well as practical help for modern travellers to Italy. Lovingly edited, annotated, and introduced by John Auchard. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Henry James was a master at tracing the social boundaries of the Gilded Age -- between Old and New World, Europe and America, desire and convention, men and women. He brought an invaluably clear-eyed, and critical, sensibility to America's evolving cultural mores.