The most recommended Italian Renaissance books

Who picked these books? Meet our 7 experts.

7 authors created a book list connected to Italian Renaissance, and here are their favorite Italian Renaissance books.
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What type of Italian Renaissance book?

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Book cover of Aretino's Dialogues

Peter Elbling Author Of The Food Taster

From my list on the brilliance of the Italian Renaissance.

Why am I passionate about this?

Folk-singing was my first vocation, but I made a sudden left turn into comedy, becoming one-half of The Times Square Two. After a few years touring the world, I settled in Hollywood and became an actor, writer, and director. I was inspired to write The Food Taster by the maître d’ of a famous restaurant in Los Angeles. When I complained that my meal had made me ill, he smiled and said I should get myself a food taster.

Peter's book list on the brilliance of the Italian Renaissance

Peter Elbling Why did Peter love this book?

I highly recommend the works of Pietro Aretino. I love satire, and Aretino was a satirist for the ages. I admired his raw courage, for he spared no one—including kings and popes—on his way to earning the title “Scourge of Princes.” He died in his early sixties, reportedly from “laughing too much.” I cannot imagine an epitaph I would rather have engraved on my headstone.

By Pietro Aretino,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Aretino's Dialogues as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

tales from Counter-Renaissance Rome


Book cover of Aretino's Dialogues

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