Gabriele GalimbertiRecensioni

I love the idea of couchsurfing and hope to host some day. This book, though, just wasn't that great. There is only one photo for each person he stays with, and always, it is the photo of their interior space. He also includes a short story with each photo, describing the host and some of his experience with them. Sometimes the story was more interesting and I would have preferred to see a photo of that experience. Unfortunately, in general, the writing left a lot to be desired. And the author made a point of telling which people he slept with/dated...? I really couldn't have cared about that!

26

Of all the firearms in the world owned by private citizens for non-military purposes, half are in the United States of America. In number they exceed the country’s population: 393 million for 372 million people. This is no coincidence, nor a matter of market alone: it is rather a matter of tradition and Constitutional guarantee. It is the history of the Second Amendment, ratified in 1791 to reassure the inhabitants of the newly independent territories that their Federal Government could not, one day, abuse its authority over them. Two hundred and fifty years later, the Second Amendment is still entrenched in all aspects of American life and this book frames its current status through what are seen as four fundamental American values: Family, Freedom, Passion, Style.

Photographer Gabriele Galimberti has travelled to every corner of the United States, from New York City to Honolulu, to meet proud gun-owners, and to see their firearms collections. He has photographed people and guns in their homes and neighbourhoods, including locations where no one would expect to find such collections. These, often unsettling, portraits, along with the accompanying stories of the owners and their firearms which are based on interviews, provide an uncommon and unexpected insight into what today is really represented by the institution of the Second Amendment.

Gabriele Galimberti is an award-winning Italian photographer who works on long-term documentary photography projects around the world, several of which have become books, including Toy Stories, In Her Kitchen, My Couch Is Your Couch and The Heavens. He has exhibited in shows worldwide, including Les Rencontres de la Photographie (Arles), Festival Images (Vevey, Switzerland), and the V&A London. Gabriele recently became a National Geographic photographer and he regularly works for the magazine.

Gea Scancarello is an Italian journalist and author whose work has appeared in Italian and foreign media, including Business Insider (where she is a major contributor of the Better Capitalism pages), SportWeek, GQ, Heidi, Pagina99, Vanity Fair. She has published two books “Mi fido di te” (Chiarelettere, 2015) and “Addicted” (Hoepli, 2020).

I loved the idea behind this book, meeting up with grandmothers around the world and eating a meal they made. The photography was good and I had fun reading the recipes. I wish the writing about the women had gone into more depth. I didn't get to know them as well as I would have liked.

This is a nice superficial tour of the world. The format suffered confusion. The pages alternate between two pages of photos and then two pages of text. It would have made more sense to pair the portrait with the introduction and descriptive text and the finished dish with the recipe and directions. Beginning with the photos before turning the page to text was disorienting.
Sadly, the range of recipes seemed fairly narrow, with lots and lots of various meats, but leading with pepper flavorings. The dishes themselves are not particularly visually appealing. The more interesting aspect is the kitchen (sometimes dining room) with the ingredients laid out in front of the grandmas. There is a refreshing simplicity here and I could imagine visiting and lending a hand.½

Gorgeous and charming photographs of women throughout the world, with the ingredients of their favorite/best dishes spread before them artistically. Each photo is followed by a short description of the photographer's experience with the grandmother and her cooking and her recipe. Like the photos, the stories are delightful and often poignant; it's a wonderful, loving project.

Had to return to the library; read through page 70 and looked through all of it.

This is an extraordinary coffee table book. It will make you hungry as you browse its pages. Wonderful photography. An exceptional tour of the world. Some of the recipes are quite simple, others very complicated and requiring exotic ingredients. (Hard to find iguana in the US!) Lovely stories of these beautiful women, though shorter than I would like. It really points out the diversity on our planet, in food and culture and living conditions. Makes me very grateful for my home and family and curious to explore the world. I'm wowed. I think I will purchase several copies as gifts. Thank you to bloggingforbooks for giving me a copy in exchange for my honest review.