Katherine Wilson Books

'See Naples and die', said Goethe. But Katherine Wilson saw Naples and started to live. Katherine is fresh out of college when she arrives in Naples to intern at the US Consulate. There she meets handsome, studious Salvatore, and finds herself enveloped by his family - in particular by his elegant mother, Raffaella, who begins her real education: never eat the crust of a pizza first, always stand up and fight for yourself and your loved ones, and remember that mealtimes are sacred. Immersed in Neapolitan culture, tradition and cooking, slowly and unexpectedly falling for Salvatore, and basking in Raffaella's company and guidance, Katherine discovers how to prepare meals that sing, from rich ragu to pasta al forno, with bacon, bechamel and four kinds of cheese. Through courtship, culture clashes, Sunday Mass, marriage and motherhood, Katherine slowly comes to appreciate carnale, the quintessentially Neapolitan sense of comfort and confidence in one's own skin. Steeped in sunlight, wine and unforgettable food, Only in Naples is a love letter to a city and a family, a coming-of-age story, and a transporting account of learning to live the Italian way. 'Katherine Wilson gives us more than the fabulous food of Naples. She offers us a passport to an exotic country we would never be able to enter on our own.' Ruth Reichl, author of My Kitchen Year

Arriving in Naples as a naive young intern at the American Consulate, Katherine is set up on a blind date - at least that's what she's expecting. Instead, Salvatore brings her home to eat pizza with his family. But this is no ordinary pizza, and the woman who makes it is no ordinary woman. Katherine and Salve do end up dating - and marrying - but it's Salvatore's mother who truly initiates Katherine into Italian society, offering her a culinary and cultural education that marks the beginning of her womanhood. Along the way, Katherine dabbles in dubbing porn, learns to cook an octopus, and fends off frisky Italian suitors. Most importantly, she acquires carnale, the quintessentially Neapolitan sense of living with comfort and confidence in one's body. Only in Naples recalls the rich and wry culinary writing of Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking and the charmingly eccentric family portraits of Jenny Lawson's Let's Pretend This Never Happened.

With the help of University of Oregon professors, as well as professors from CU Boulder and University of Cincinnati, this book ties together the author's personal experiences and interviews of members of the New Hollywood and those that influenced them, such as the Merry Pranksters and their film crew, Poetic Cinema Filmmakers, still living members of the Beat Generation, and through academic articles and books, from Plato to Yeats and the time's literary theory deconstructionists, answers the question of what created them.

„Vidieť Neapol a zomrieť,“ napísal Goethe. Katherine Wilsonovová s ním nesúhlasí: „Ja som uvidela Neapol a začala som žiť!“ Mladá Američanka, čerstvá absolventka univerzity, šla pôvodne do Talianska na trojmesačnú stáž na americký konzulát, no v živom meste na brehu Stredozemného mora našla životnú lásku. A nie jednu! Zamilovala sa nielen do Salvatoreho, ale aj do spôsobu života, tamojšej stravy, ba aj do múdrosti svojej budúcej svokry. Kniha plná láskavého humoru, úžasného jedla a jedinečnej neapolskej atmosféry možno chytí za srdce aj vás. Vedeli ste, že jedlo sa dá pripraviť tak, aby spievalo? A aký kulinársky zázrak možno vyčarovať z jedného hrnca plného slaniny, bešamelu a štyroch druhov syra? Ani Katherine to netušila. Až kým nezavítala do perly južného Talianska.