Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World is an enjoyable read that will create major wanderlust. Written by award-winning author Anthony Doerr, this travelogue contains musings about living in Rome, ancient Roman history, and the difficulties of raising children. Doerr’s signature writing style, consisting mainly of metaphors and other beautiful imagery, is evident on every page. Doerr and his family lived in Rome when Pope John Paul II’s died, so the book documents the Pope’s funeral and the papal conclave for Pope Benedict XVI. Four Seasons in Rome is enchanting, entertaining and will be enjoyed regardless if readers have visited Rome or not. Fans of Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize Winner All the Light We Cannot See should check out this book!
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 2 religious exclamations; 2 mild obscenities; 1 scatological word; 1 F-word derivative.
Violence/Gore: Implied occurrence of violence in reading material; several secondhand reports of violence from history — Romans beheaded, vestal virgins who are entombed, gunfire, World War II, tsunamis and asphyxiation; mention of suicide and attempted suicide; a mention of birds being tortured to reduce population; a few brief scene of violence involving a beggar punching a man and ancient battles; a few brief non-detailed scenes of violent death involving car crashes.
Sex/Nudity: Several sexual references regarding Carnival in Rome, Pliny the Elder’s words of advice, prostitutes and child molester; a few reported incidents of sexual activity regarding orgies and prostitutes.
Mature Subject Matter:
Suicide, death of pope, kidnapping in Iraq (mention), child molester (mention), battle.
Alcohol / Drug Use:
Frequent smoking and drinking wine; a Roman festival dispenses wine; people drink beer at a party; author drinks alcohol in attempt to sleep; graffiti of a marijuana leaf.
