RPCV Roland Merullo On The Shores of Lake Como

Roland Merullo (Micronesia 1979-80) has written a number of fine novels (Leaving Losapas, his Peace Corps novel), and since then novels on a wide range of topics, including golf (Golfing with God: A Novel of Heaven and Earth.) He is back with a new one, this on golf, travel, Italy and a lot more: The Italian Summer.

Last year Roland took a long summer vacation with his wife and two daughters in northern Italy. Of the trip, Roland writes in his introduction, “Just the story of a slice of time in a beautiful place, where I had a lesson in living more slowly.” (Hey, Roland, you spent two years in Micronesia! Could anything possibly move slower than those islands?)

There is a lot in this book, from writing about golf to long and leisurely dinners. You can get a great meal out of these beautifully written pages. Touchstone Books published The Italian Summer this spring. As they say, it’s on bookshelves now. It’s a Great Mother’s Day present.