How does Italy actually work? The bestselling writer on Italian culture sets out to answer this question – and the results are often surprising

‘Parks…offers detailed cultural observation, witty yet eagle-eyed, of what makes Italians so Italian’ The Times

How does Italy really work?

When Valeria travels from hot, dusty Basilicata to begin her studies in a northern university town, she has little idea of the kind of education she will find there. Italian Life is her story, and that of the students and professors around her- a story of power and corruption, influence and exclusion, and the workings of a society where your connections are everything.

Written with flair and insight, Italian Life joins Tim Parks’ bestselling books about his beloved and paradoxical adopted country. It is a gripping, entertaining, behind-the-scenes account of how Italy actually happens, and the ways it can surprise those who know it inside out.

‘A satisfyingly truthful, entertaining and provocative comedy’ Daily Telegraph