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"Turning Tuscan is a story about what it's like to fall in love with Tuscany in your mid-life years, to buy a home there, to change around your work, and, finally, to leave the San Francisco Bay Area and move with your wife and children to a tiny Tuscan village. 

Once you've made the move, you discover what it's really like living here: learning the language, becoming part of a village community, running a tour company, getting an internet connection, spending time in the hospital, appreciating the bureaucracy, and enduring customer service at The Phone Company."


"The Uffizi Gallery will serve as a ready companion for your armchair travels as well as a hands-on guidebook for your on-site visits when you're in Tuscany. 

Based on my years of guiding travelers through the Uffizi, I've developed a keen sense of what engages people, and what bores them to death. I’ve chosen paintings that first caught my interest more than twenty years ago—and never lost it. Read this guide before your visit, take it with you when you go, and read it again whenever you want to relive your Renaissance art adventures."




"The Renaissance of Imagination is aimed at the thoughtful reader who has been bitten by the Renaissance bug. You'll have an opportunity to con-template the masterpieces of 15th century Florentine art in new ways that enable you to appreciate their beauty, depth and brilliance more fully. 

Each of the essays arises from in-depth engagement with the individual works of art, rather than subordinating them to the conventional paradigms. When you're ready for a deeper immersion in the world of Renaissance genius, this tour of the Florentine quattrocento will not disappoint you."

Readers' Comments

About "Turning Tuscan"

"I found this book on my kindle in the middle of a sleepless night and never went back to sleep. We are planning to go to Tuscany in three weeks and this book gave such a wonderful picture of life in Tuscany covering everything from driving, to the people, to bits of history, bits of art history, to the frustrations of customer service, to the warmth of nurses in the hospital. Sam Hilt’s writing style is like talking to a friend who just can’t wait to share all he’s learned along the way. He’s funny and engaging and a font of information.” 
- Ginny D. 

"Books by Americans who have moved to Italy (either for a year, a few years or permanently) are my favorite "genre". I've read more of these than I can count. Turning Tuscan was a standout for me because of the author's personal reflection on the journey, the emphasis on understanding the culture differences and the realities of life, including driving, language learning and even hospitalization. I was sorry to come to the end of the book and am looking forward to reading his book about the Uffizi before a trip this fall."
- Putnam

About "The Uffizi Gallery"

“Sam Hilt has written a book that I’ve been wanting for years: an intelligent, friendly guide to Italian art that makes the paintings come alive and connect to the life of the art lover. He quickly passes through the usual historical and technical aspects to help a viewer see and appreciate the images. So simple, and yet so radical. Sam is a person you would want at your side in an art museum, and his book is almost as good as him being there with you... Sam’s book reveals the heart and soul of the art. Its tone is just right—informative and insightful.” 

- Thomas Moore,  New York Times’ Best-selling Author of Care of the Soul 

About  "The Renaissance of Imagination"

Whether you are a first time visitor to Italy, an art history student, or a scholar of Renaissance art, this book is a must read. As a senior art historian and university professor I have assayed many an art history book and seen all the works of art noted in this book. Sam Hilt’s The Renaissance of Imagination offers a refreshingly new and different take. His remarkable findings and candid observations will change forever the way you respond to a work of art.” 

- Loren Lerner, Prof. of Art History, Concordia University, Montreal 


























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