Lonely Planet Tuscany and Umbria Book

2.5 stars.

This book should've been called Joe McGinniss Goes to Italy So That Joe McGinniss Can Talk to Italians and Report on how They React to Joe McGinniss by Joe McGinniss.

A really great sports story is hidden somewhere in these 404 pages, but I'd forgive you if you missed it. McGinniss spends most of the book arguing with the coach about tactics (even though he knows nothing about soccer), claiming that he's as close to the team as if they were family (even though a player's son says his father won't talk to McGinniss because he's an idiot), and provoking the local organized crime bosses for no apparent reason. To the writer's credit (I guess), he is the one telling us what a jackass he is. But he can't possibly comprehend how badly he comes off, and as a protagonist for this story he is profoundly uninteresting.

The drama of the soccer makes the book readable by itself (although it's so obvious that McGinniss doesn't know the game that it lends an unreliability to even the most basic reporting), but mostly I found myself annoyed. I will say, without being too spoiler-heavy, that there is more of an ending to the McGinniss-centric narrative than I would've thought possible, which redeemed the self-centered style somewhat. Not nearly enough.