From actor Tucker comes this celebration of a good marriage and a careful study of the nature of home, written with an epicurean's delight in detail and a gourmand's appreciation for all things fine.

Reviews

Tucker and his wife, Jill Eikenberry, best known for their roles as Stuart Markowitz and Ann Kelsey in the TV series L.A. Law, were between acting jobs when they discovered a home they loved in Italy's Umbrian countryside. They purchased and renovated the 350-year-old cottage and live there part-time, exploring their newly adopted country when not on acting jobs in the United States. Tucker details their adventures with the culture, people, language, and especially the food of their new home. As in other books of this ilk-there are numerous others on American couples purchasing and renovating a home in Italy and falling in love with the land and the food-the author extols the virtues of rural Italian life and culture, struggles to fit into the community, and finds joy in the people and experiences he encounters. While not unique, this work is quite readable and will be enjoyed by readers who like the expat-in-Italy genre. Recommended for travel collections in public libraries.-Sheila Kasperek, Mansfield Univ. Lib., PA Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

In this lighthearted memoir by television's former L.A. Law star, Tucker delve graciously into the rich lifestyle, cuisine and local wine of central Italy when he and his wife, actress Jill Eikenberry, make an impromptu purchase of a 350-year-old stone cottage in the Umbrian countryside. The Tuckers break away from the Bay Area to acquaint themselves with the Rustico, their new second home. Despite speaking limited Italian, they quickly befriend their expatriate and Italian neighbors and with them set out to celebrate the regional cuisine found in local trattorias, tavernas and the aromatic kitchens of new acquaintances. Language gaffes and the occasional couple's spat is to be expected, as the Tuckers begin to re-evaluate their lives. The simplicity and heartiness of Umbria begins to feel more like home for them, and little by little the Tuckers let go of their more career-ambitious lives in the U.S. Jill's revitalization of her theater career in New York becomes as much of an accomplishment as her taking art classes with 16 non-English-speaking Italian housewives. Tucker simply appreciates his relationships forged with Gloria, the owner of the local orta-frutta shop and the town's butchers. Guileless narrative intertwined with generous descriptions of Italian fare make Tucker's food memoir and travelogue a satisfying look into the good life. (July) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

"A satisfying look into the good life." --Publisher's Weekly
"Foodies will slaver and bristle with envy at the surfeit of pungently fresh truffles that appear at seemingly every meal."-- --Mark Knoblauch, Boolist
"Not at all the usual actor's memoir, but a simple toast to eating, drinking and innocent merriment in old Umbria." --Kirkus Reviews
"If you've ever dreamed of living in an ancient stone villa set high above the Italian countryside--and who hasn't?--Living in a Foreign Language is a seduction, a warning, an encouragement, and a guide to making a dream come true." -- Mary Doria Russell, author of The Sparrow
"Michael Tucker's Living in a Foreign Language is a rollicking, food and fun-filled chronicle of his and his wife Jill's international traveling circus. From New York to Los Angeles to Marin county to Italy and New York again, it's an odyssey of change and growth filled with good wine, fine food, and great friends. Infused with love, the Tuckers'