He remains the best interpreter of Italian ways in English

Sunday Herald

It is an immensely learned, elegantly written rehearsal of the significance of 23 Italian writers, from Dante in the 13th century to Antonio Tabucchi in our own, and as such it amounts I think to an assessment of the Italian sensibility as a whole. Nobody is better qualified than Tim Parks to guide us through such an experience... He can be as entertaining as he is scholarly, and he is evidently profoundly concerned with the relationship everywhere between art and life.

The Spectator

Tim Parks's new volume of essays goes where it is inaccessible to the casual tourist, deep into the literature

The Independent