Michael Rips

Delightful examination of the life and eccentrics of Surti, Italy from the point of view of the American author living there with his family. Funny, charming.

Readable, but slight, and about a group of people whom I found far less engaging than did the author, Michael Rips. Eccentricity or quirk aren't inherently interesting. I also found it difficult to empathise with a guy whose major life issue seemed to be that he had too much free time and money to spend on buying over-priced flea market crap to put in his $5k/month Manhattan apartment. Oh to have those kinds of problems and a book deal to write about them.

Learned something new. There are flea markets, art galleries and the auction houses. They all are hoping to make money. But there's also the love for searching and collecting interesting pieces of art, objects and furniture. The author gives the reader a glimpse with his stories.

Weird, bizarre - call it what you will - Rips' deadpan delivery is just a tad bit too clinical and impassive. About his family!? Then where is the emotion? I like the form this book takes and the way it is non-linear, but it has way too many characters that just get mentioned in passing - what's the point of bringing in all these tangential characters that just confuse the reader?