According to the jacket of this book, the word "Amarcord" means "I remember" in the Italian dialect of the author. Since this book is an autobiography, Amarcord is an appropriate word for the title. The author, Marcella Hazan, is also a cookbook author. She is apparently famous in some circles of society, although most people probably won't recognize her name. She authored several cookbooks about classic Italian cooking and also ran a cooking school in Italy which was attended by wealthy people, including a few celebrities. But Marcella is more than just a cook. She is also a woman who has led a very interesting and busy life.
Marcella Hazan's nationality is Italian, but she was born in Egypt in 1924 and lived there until the age of 12. Her family returned to Italy after Marcella broke her arm and needed better medical attention than was available in Egypt. Her parents weren't wealthy, but they were apparently prosperous. Her father was a tailor and owned property in Italy. The broken arm Marcella suffered never fully healed and to this day she doesn't have full use of her arm and hand.
When World War II started, her family moved to the country to avoid the dangers of the war. But unfortunately they moved to an area with military activity, so they were frequently bombed. During this period, Marcella attended school and studied biology and zoology. After the war, when she and her parents returned to their hometown, she continued to attend school and eventually obtained a Doctorate in biology. She then worked as a school teacher and lived with her family until she was 30.
She then met her husband, Victor, who was an American visiting Italy and studying art. Victor had been born in Italy, but moved to the US as a boy. His parents were wealthy and owned a fur store. Victor was Jewish, and Marcella was Catholic, and they married in a civil ceremony so as not to antagonize his parents. But his parents never did approve of Marcella, and they even temporarily disowned Victor.
Soon after their marriage they moved to New York, and Victor worked in his parent's business. This was in the late 1950's. Marcella eventually got a job and leaned English. She then got pregnant, and quit her job. At about the same time, Victor was in a car accident. These events seemed to inspire the couple to return to Italy.
So for most of the 1960's they lived in Italy, with their young son (and only child), and Victor got a job in advertising. But he wasn't successful, and he decided to return to New York and work in the family business again.
It was during this time, in the early 1970's that Marcella took a cooking class. She then began giving her own cooking classes on Italian cooking. This led to a New York Times reporter interviewing her. Which then led to a book publisher asking her to write a cook book. The book was successful, and it also created more demand for her cooking classes.
In the late 1970's, her husband apparently wound-up the family business and Marcella and him opened a cooking school in Italy. So they spent most of the 1980's living in Italy and even bought a house in Venice and remodeled it. They also published several more cook books. And they got married again, in a Catholic church this time, since Victor's parents were dead.
By the 1990's they retired and decided to return to the US and live in a house they owned in Longboat Key, Florida. One of the reasons they wanted to live in the US, is because they were concerned about the lack of quality of Italy's nationalized health care system. But another reason was the weather was better in Florida.
This is a good book. It is also a very honest autobiography. Marcella is very matter-of-fact about the failures and disappointments in her life, and also about the conflicts and disagreements she had with various people. But she never "over shares" by giving too much personal information, which many autobiographies tend to do. She has a good sense of personal boundaries and fairness and gives just the right amount of information. She seems very self-aware and has a pleasant sense of humor. She has travelled many places and done lots of interesting things. Her long and interesting life has given her wisdom, and the expression "a life well lived" would seem to apply in this case.
This book is very enjoyable reading.
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