South of Somewhere

Wine, Food, and the Soul of Italy (At Table)

By: Robert V. Camuto

Narrated by: Alan Reinhardt

New York Times Best Wine Book of 2021. South of Somewhere begins and ends in Robert Camuto’s maternal ancestral town of Vico Equense, Italy—a tiny paradise south of Naples on the Sorrento Peninsula. It was here in 1968, at 10-years-old, that the author first tasted Italian life.

Fifty years later, Camuto returns to Vico, connecting with family members and a new generation. A lot has changed: The old family restaurant has been razed and the seaside has been developed with hotels and restaurants, including a famous two-Michelin-starred restaurant in a medieval tower now owned by a younger cousin. Though there are more foreign visitors, the essentials of beauty, food, family bonds, and simplicity have not changed.

Camuto’s fine-grained storytelling in this series of portraits takes us beyond the usual objective views of viniculture nto the elusive and magical world of Italian “South-ness.” While on one level able to create an instructive narrative about Southern Italy’s 21st-century wine and cultural renaissance, Camuto’s unswerving eye juxtaposes the good and the bad—immeasurable beauty and persistent blight, anti-mafia forces and corruption, hope for the future and fatalism—in a land that remains an infinite source of fascination and sensory pleasure.

The book is published by University of Nebraska Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

"His best yet, a razor-sharp evocation of the people, places and points-of-view that captures both the fatalism so often encountered in southern Italy." (New York Times)

"A delicious pre-pandemic travelogue through southern Italy in South of Somewhere." (Washington Post)

"A delicious, thirst-inspiring romp full of remarkable personalities, their wine-soaked cellars, and one delectable meal after another. Camuto does it tastefully!” (Kermit Lynch, wineconoclast, author, and importer)

©2021 Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska (P)2022 Redwood Audiobooks

Must Love Wine - or Not

The first thing I noticed after listening to the introduction was that the narrator had an easy going voice.
He also had an upbeat way of explaining what the book was about. Although I’m not a big wine drinker his enthusiasm made me want to listen. We’ll, I’m glad I did. Let me explain why.
The author’s journey was about the wine makers and their beloved land. His description of the different vineyards and the families who devoted themselves to the various ways of making their own unique wines was most interesting.
When I read or listen to a book it is with the intention of learning something new. South of Somewhere did not disappoint.