Living in a Foreign Language: a Memoir of Food, Wine, and Love in Italy by Michael Tucker

Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry, stars of the long-running NBC TV show, L. A. Law, were also partners in a long-term and successful marriage and entirely consumed by their busy professional and family lives, when one night they inadvertently overheard plans to cancel their show. Suddenly dumped from stardom, they moved to northern California and, having safely seen their second child off to college devoted themselves to each other, their marriage, and finding out what would come next. Despite all their self-realization courses, they had still really not found what would make them completely happy when, having been invited to a birthday party in Italy, they stumble across an old stone farmhouse in the Spoleto valley in Umbria. They buy it and discover they have found what they have been looking for – home. The couple are carried through most difficulties and hardships by the strength of their relationship. Michael Tucker obviously thinks he is a very lucky man. His love of life comes across in this light-hearted book and in his ingenuous and relaxed writing. Though the book describes a rich and leisured lifestyle it does not seem at all pretentious. Lovers of all things Italian will enjoy the descriptions of Rome and the countryside. Michael describes things quintessentially Italian like the prosciutto maker, the pasta shop, or an antiques market in Rome. Lovers of good food will enjoy all the descriptions of fabulous meals. Tucker says that in Italy, food functions as metaphor for the good life, but its superior quality also is tangible. He contrasts Italian food, which is always fresh and local, to the long hauled food in a U.S. supermarket. For Tucker, food also does not have to be pretentious to be good. He says, "I don't fuss too much, I buy something good and cook it right. Cooking is 90 percent shopping -- or picking, if you have a good garden." For Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry, the Italians have much to teach Americans about the good life.

Conversation Starters:

What do you think about the pretentiousness or not of this book? Contrast it with Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence, which I thought was a bit name- and place-dropping. I think the preference I have for Michael Tucker's book might be because of his ingenuous tone. He comes across to me as a naughty boy who can't believe his luck.

What were your favorite scenes in the book? I think mine was the pizza-bake at the ancient oven. The oven to me is its own character in the book. It is a monolithic, sleeping presence all through the book, and then finally it is awakened. When they finally bake in the oven it is as if Italy has accepted them.

What did you think of Michael's and Jill's friends? I thought Michael brought them to life very well. I thought he did their conversation just right. I am guessing he is good at observing people because he is an actor.

What did you think of Michael's and Jill's relationship as revealed in the book? One can infer a lot, but it seems a bit one-sided in the book. Is this OK because it is Michael's book and he is writing about other things too?

Other similar books you could read:
The Lady in the Palazzo: At Home in Umbria by Marlena di Blasi
Palladian Days: Finding a New Life in a Venetian Country House by Sally and Carl Gable
French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew by Peter Mayle