Falling Palace: A Romance of Naples

by Dan Hofstadter

A portrait of the sun-drenched volcanic city from an American who has lost his heart to the place and to a beguiling Neapolitan woman.

In Falling Palace Dan Hofstadter brilliantly reveals Naples, from the dilapidated architectural beauty to the irrepressible theater of everyday life. We witness the centuries-old festivals that regularly crowd the city’s jumbled streets, and eavesdrop on conversations that continue deep into the night. We browse the countless curio shops where treasures mingle with kitsch, and meet the locals he befriends. In and out of these encounters slips Benedetta, the object of the author’s affections, at once inviting and unfathomable. Weaving the tale of an elusive love together with a vivid portrayal of a legendary metropolis, this is a startling evocation of a magical place.

Genres: Italy, Travel, Memoir, Biography Memoir, Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Dan Hofstadter’s last book was The Love Affair as a Work of Art, a study of French writers. Falling Palace, about daily life in contemporary Naples, was published in 2005.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of the kind of travel book where the author mixes stories of today's neighborhood characters with digestible little history lessons. Tour guide style, but as if the tour guide is a professor at a nearby university. Gossip meets legend. It works especially well with cities like Naples, which is so vibrant and layered and impossible to pin down.

Falling Palace got the balance right at times. The chapter about interpreting dreams to help pick lottery numbers was amusing. There were some interesting local legends in the chapter about subterranean Naples.

And that's as far as I got. Couldn't continue. The relationship with Benedetta didn't work as a frame for me. Descriptions of overloaded vespas, crumbling buildings, housewives in courtyards--a little of this goes a long way, and each chapter does not need its own reminders of these same features.

The writing style became harder to follow, reminding me of Italian analyses of art or music translated into English. I suspect each sentence has at least three brilliant insights, but I can't for the life of me unpack one of them. For the effort, I felt like I wasn't learning anything new about one of my favorite cities in the world.

Hofstadter obviously loves Naples. As he points out, he does indeed have a tendency to meet quirky characters there and get to know them pretty well. I'm impressed by his fluency in his Italian, and I smiled about his late-night sessions in his dark apartment listening to a local psychic on the radio. I'd like it if he tried some short stories set in Naples.

[Erin Malone · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, which combines a story of travel and romance, is written with such texture that for a few minutes each night before sleep I could imagine myself wandering through the neighborhoods of Naples. . . .

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

On a walk, the author states why he loves Naples: “Great shafts of sunlight slanted along the frontages, and streets slipped into view from impossible angles. Rustic-looking housing balanced atop gigantic archways. And boulevards coursed along on multiple levels.” And the Neapolitan aura: “On public squares, by the waterfront, in cafes, at the dinner table, I watched their dark eyes, their rueful smiles, their gestures of disclaimer or disenchantment as they tried to explain the persistent and clan violence in their city.” It's unclear how many times he visits Naples on extended writing excursions. Two for sure; one for three years, another for ten. He encounters an elusive lover, Benedetta, and extensive quotations from both her and others smack of fiction. Was dialogue reconstructed? The author acknowledges that where his narrative strays from pure fact he intended to “remain faithful to the characters and to each event as it happened.” Thanks, Dan, for your incisive introduction to Naples.

[ALV · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard to say how much I love this book. My mother was Neapolitan and I spent many summers growing up in Naples and the surrounding area. A lot of people just don't "get" Naples, but Hofstadter is one who does. He weaves a highly personal story of distinct people and places, and his portrait is intoxicating. No, it's not a travel book, but one could do worse than plan an itinerary based on this story. I have read this a couple times and recommended it to others who have echoed my enthusiasm. It's really a beautiful memoir of a slice in time when this American fell in love with a city and stayed.

[Janet Mumma · Rating 5 out of 5]

The romance in this book was sweet but it’s real attractions are the wonderful people and the wonderful places that comprise Naples. I felt I was walking down the street peering into shops stopping for a coffee sitting on a bed crouching in underground tunnels stirring dough in the bakery and all the time listening to passionate commentary all around. I loved this book!

[Brittany Nye · Rating 1 out of 5]

Napoli is one of my favorite cities in Europe, and I am sorry to say this book was made out to be more about the city and less about all these random annoying characters. Rather disappointing. I will go back to reading Neapolitan authors.

[Frances Gaudiano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose this book as I wanted to learn more about Naples and it did describe the city in detail and objectively. There was no glossing over the crime or pollution. The plot did sag a little as the anecdotes were not linked together well.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun pre-vacation read, but the ending felt a little anticlimactic.

[Seamus Enright · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't learn that much about Naples...it's really about the author's at best mildly interesting life.

[Bookmarks Magazine]

A cynic might assume that with Rome and Tuscany overrun with tourists (and memoirs), Naples is the next logical hot spot. But there's nothing logical about Naples, and this highly personal story finds its author on solid (if slightly volcanic) ground. Critics praise the evocation of place, the lively characterizations, and above all, "the exquisite precision of Mr. Hofstadter's prose" (Wall Street Journal). If he glosses over some of Naples's problems (heavy unemployment, drugs, and the Neapolitan mafia, the camorra), he does so with the myopia of a lover__focusing on the city's beauty at the expense of some of its nagging vices.

This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a series of travel essays on Naples. While some could be published as articles on their own, in this book they are uniquely tied together with the story of Hofstadter's romance. Or is it a romance? This is as unknowable as Naples itself, and Hofstadter lovingly shows us how mysterious it all can be. This is a gem of a book and I was sorry to leave him and Naples when I finished it.

As a post script, could some of the underground network Hof. describes be lava tubes? We have some tall ones on the "Big Island" here in Hawai'i.

Post post script: I've come upon a "Smithsonian" article by Hofstadter from Nov. 2004 on the tunnels. The book presents them in an anecdotal way. The article is packed with info. and with one picture being worth 1000 words, there are 9 very good ones.

[Suzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading about Naples and and exploring the in and outs of the city and its people. I think would have liked the book more if it included more of the history and sights and sounds of the city and less of the love story with Benedetta. There wasn't enough dialogue or emotion regarding the authors relationship with Benedetta to make the reader truly care about the relationship. Naples is a beautiful city and having only been there for a very brief time I was hoping to learn more about it and what I didn't have the time to explore or experience during my stay there.

[Cathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Living in Npales, this was an interesting read because I can recognize so many of the places the author speaks about, and so much of the culture as well, but apart from being intersting it wasn't much else. It was wordy, long-winded many times, and there really wasn't any plot to it. I kept waiting for the storyline to show up, but there isn't one. It's just basically a traveller's journal, and as such I guess it was okay. I just expected more.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised by how much I liked this book. The narrator's story with Neapolitan Benedetta seemed slightly self-centered and poorly explored, yet he had such great observations and descriptions of Naples ... and he seemed to really ponder the question of why he found (and I find!) Naples such a fascinating, intriguing place. It was refreshing to read of a foreigner's observations without being continually reminded of the focus on the observer as a foreigner.

[Susan Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Naples is a city foreigners (including my husband) tend to hate. Garbage everywhere and the threat of death from speeding vehicles whenever you try to cross a street. I love the place, though, mainly because it feels like a real city out of Italy's past, not simply a tourist destination. I also loved seeing it through Hofstadter's lens.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dan Hofstadter builds his book on Naples layer by layer, above ground and deep deep below the surface...whether the surface is physical...or metaphysical. There are family histories, mysteries, clairvoyants, and threading through it all, a woman. Of course,it's Naples! The city of sound, of dreams, of shadows and change is beautifully drawn through descriptions that touch all the senses....

[Maureen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry, what looked and sounded like a good book is not. Benedetta is a shallow character that I don't care about at all and if I want to hear that much about Naples (and he makes it sound boring so I probably don't) I'll read a history book. Want to read about an American living in Europe? Read Hemingway instead!

[Trina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book more than I expected to --at first it seemed way too autobiographical and self-absorbed. But in fact Naples is the most important character, and the writer clearly loves its rich, vivid messiness.

[Gen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nostalgic love letter to Naples, Italy, written by an American who became a contributing writer to the New Yorker. Provides unique insight into the life and culture inside the heart of Italy's most under-rated city.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hofstadter details his love affairs with a city and with a woman. Both are fascinating and generous, and ultimately unknowable. He does better with Naples than with the lovely Benedettta -- his descriptions of life in the city make wonderful reading.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though I live in a suburb of Naples, I couldn't relate at all to the book. Bernadette was never an engaging character. I basically had no emotional attachment to anyone in the book, or to Naples itself.

[Maureen · Rating 2 out of 5]

As much as I love every part of Italy I've been to, this book just didn't engage me. Maybe it was a case of ..."It's not the book, it's me".

I might even consider it again as Naples is a place on my to-see list.

[Silver Swan]

My great uncle gave this book to me. Romance, Italy...sounds good to me! :D

[Marcia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my kind of read...but I finished it.