
Val di Chiana’s gem
A count's hotel-residence in Tuscany strives to take visitors into Italy's rustic past.

The International
Despite Owen and Watts, German Tom Tykwer's anti-banking screed falls flat.

Not heard
For ever-child Michael Jackson, maturity was always a rumor.

Cutty, One Rock: Low Characters and Strange Places, Gently Explained
August Kleinzhaler revels in the luminous mess that is America.

The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears
Dinaw Menestu's first novel beautifully understates the obviousness of human complication.

Mediterraneo
Gabriele Salvatores goes soft on war — on a Greek island.

Jam Tarts
Elizabeth Evans: "Marcie tried to heat herself up, become a golden lamp, project golden beams of goodness..."

Mio fratello è figlio unico (My brother is an only child)
Daniele Luchetti examines two brothers coming of age in 1960s and 70s Rome.

Moth Smoke
Mohsin Hamid's debut novel is a darkly funny look at late 90s urban Pakistan.

Don of the fishes
In 1978, a young fish-lover got a taste of Calabrian adulthood.

Troppo buono!
When the two Christs and their Ritz crackers come calling, wouldn't you know it was Mom's idea.