Four Seasons in Rome:

On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World

Anthony Doerr

The recipient of an American Academy fellowship, Doerr, his wife, and their twin newborns are on their way to Rome for a year. Cultural isolation, the death of John Paul II, struggles to complete a novel, and the tales of first-time parenthood uniquely blend together as Doerr meanders his way through a one-year Roman holiday. Along the way, he meets Romans quick to praise his twins, Romans quick to prejudge an American, and Romans happy to share the secrets of their city with him.

Doerr is a poet. He tells things as they really are and yet puts them in a very lyrical sense. A fun, relatively quick read.