Four seasons in Rome : on twins, insomnia, and the biggest funeral in the history of the world
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 203-207).

Traveling with his wife and six-month-old twins from Boise to Italy for a year of writing as a fellow in literature at the American Academy in Rome, Doerr offers us a glimpse of what it is to be a father, a writer, and a visitor in a city where Etruscans once ate parrot soup and the neighborhood bakeries are sublime. Housed about 500 yards from the Vatican with the families of other academy fellows, Doerr and his wife must overcome not only a language barrier but also the exhaustion of parenthood as they make time to enjoy the Sistine Chapel and the Pantheon. Juggling quotes from Pliny and thoughts about strollers amid miles of art and streets teeming with history, Doerr manages to capture the overwhelming, wide-eyed view of fatherhood, of writing, and of historical discovery.