Bella Figura: How to Live, Love, and Eat the Italian Way

by Kamin Mohammadi

Overview

“My ideal type of armchair travel: immersive, insightful, seductive. In Bella Figura, Kamin Mohammadi takes us to the year in Florence that changed her life, and gives us the tools to bring the grace of the Italian lifestyle to our own lives.” —National Bestselling Author Stephanie Danler

“She walks down the street with a swing in her step and a lift to her head. She radiates allure as if followed by a personal spotlight. She may be tall or short, slim or pneumatically curvaceous, dressed discreetly or ostentatiously—it matters not. Her gait, her composure, the very tilt of her head is an ode to grace and self-possession that makes her beautiful whatever her actual features reveal.”
 
This is the bella figura, the Italian concept of making every aspect of life as beautiful as it can be, that Kamin Mohammadi discovered when she escaped the London corporate media world for a year in Italy. Following the lead of her new neighbors, she soon found a happier, healthier, and more beautiful way of living.
 
The bella figura knows:
• That the food that you eat should give you pleasure while eating it. Pause for meals, and set a place, even if you are eating alone.
• To seize any opportunity to get moving—be it taking the stairs, doing a coffee run at work, or dancing with abandon.
• To drink a spoonful of excellent-quality extra-virgin olive oil four times a day.
• To seek out nature, be it a city park, a tree on your street, or some wild place.
• And to love yourself. The bella figura—occupies her space, emotionally and physically, with style and entitlement.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780804173292
Publisher:	Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/23/2019
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	197,430
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

KAMIN MOHAMMADI was born in Iran in 1969 and was exiled to the United Kingdom in 1979. She is a journalist, travel writer, and broadcaster whose work has appeared in the British and international press, including The Times, Financial Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, and The Guardian. She lives outside Florence and in London.

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Prologue
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Excerpted from "Bella Figura"
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Copyright © 2019 Kamin Mohammadi.
Excerpted by permission of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Prologue 3

1 January 2008

Festina lente or HOW to Slow Down 5

2 February

La dolce vita or How to Taste the Sweetness of Life 37

3 March

La Festa delle Donne or How to Celebrate Being a Woman 73

4 April

Fare l'amore or How to Take a Lover 89

5 May

Mangia, mangia or How to Eat and Not Put on Weight 117

6 June

Perduta or How to Lose Your Head 137

7 July

Piacere a te stessa or HOW to Take Pleasure in Yourself 153

8 August

Femminilita or How Style Has Nothing to Do with Money 173

9 September

Stare in forma or How to Never Need a Gym Again 189

10 October

Sprezzatura or The Power of Studied Nonchalance 199

11 November

Amore or HOW to Find True Love 225

12 December

Stare insieme or How to Be Together 239

Epilogue 273

Acknowledgments 283

Editorial Reviews

This book is my ideal type of armchair travel: immersive, insightful, seductive. In Bella Figura, Kamin Mohammadi takes us to the year in Florence that changed her life, and gives us the tools to bring the grace of the Italian lifestyle to our own lives. It’s a reminder to slow down, look around, taste, listen, and to open ourselves to new possibilities.” —Stephanie Danler, author of Sweetbitter

"Uprooting her life, London-based Kamin Mohammadi relocated to bucolic Florence. Her glorious memoir Bella Figura is witty, intelligent and heartfelt in equal measure and will delight anyone dreaming of a summer holiday—or a brand new life—in Italy." —Taiye Selasi, The Guardian

"If you’ve ever thought about quitting your job, moving to Italy, wearing incredible clothes and eating unbelievable food, here’s your bible." —Fodors

“Mohammadi’s sparkling, month-by-month account of a year in Italy is a less exotic (and perhaps less self-absorbed), more outwardly observant version of Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love, but without the praying.” —Booklist

“In this charming hybrid of self-help and memoir, journalist Mohammadi relates a journey that began 10 years ago when she left her frazzled and unfulfilling life in London for a year’s sabbatical in Florence. . . . [She] conveys life lessons learned in Italy (from the health benefits of olive oil to the importance of slowing down and observing one’s surroundings), alongside her progression toward self-acceptance. . . . Mohammadi captures myriad aspects of the charming Italian lifestyle, and her story’s happy ending is a testament to its benefits.” —Publishers Weekly

"You’ll fall in love with Kamin Mohammadi’s Bella Figura: How to Live, Love, and Eat the Italian Way, her memoir on moving to Florence and finding love (and self-love) in one of the most beautiful cities in the world." —Hello Giggles
 
“A charming, delightful memoir of self-transformation. . . . Interspersed throughout with delicious recipes and bella figura–inspired lifestyle tips, the book is a down-to-earth modern-day fairy tale for the world-weary that celebrates personal transformation and all things delectably Italian.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

02/26/2018
In this charming hybrid of self-help and memoir, journalist Mohammadi (The Cypress Tree) relates a journey that began 10 years ago when she left her frazzled and unfulfilling life in London for a year’s sabbatical in Florence, where she planned to write a book. She quickly became enamored of the Italian way of life, which is about “making every aspect of life as beautiful as it can be” and embracing “generosity and abundance.” Mohammadi conveys life lessons learned in Italy (from the health benefits of olive oil to the importance of slowing down and observing one’s surroundings), alongside her progression toward self-acceptance. The book is also part travelogue—Mohammadi includes vivid descriptions of the area’s landmarks and attractions, like the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pubblico in nearby Siena—and part romance, as Mohammadi finds herself entwined with a few of Florence’s most eligible bachelors. Clueless about the culinary arts upon arrival, Mohammadi is treated to a pasta-making lesson by a charismatic plumber, and includes some favorite Italian recipes at the end of each chapter. Mohammadi captures myriad aspects of the charming Italian lifestyle, and her story’s happy ending is a testament to its benefits. (May)

Publishers Weekly

If you were among the millions who loved EAT, PRAY, LOVE, then Mohammadi's memoir is one that will feel reassuringly familiar. The author takes us into the heart of Italy while dealing with her own heartbreak. As narrator, Mohammadi reads Italian proverbs and phrases with a musicality that gives them the kind of authenticity needed for a travelogue. Her enthusiasm for all things Italian, from the people to the architecture, and of course the food, is infectious and evident in her delivery. This a romp through the famed city of Florence and a story of one woman's search for meaning that is lively, fun, and entertaining. M.R. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2018 - AudioFile

If you were among the millions who loved EAT, PRAY, LOVE, then Mohammadi's memoir is one that will feel reassuringly familiar. The author takes us into the heart of Italy while dealing with her own heartbreak. As narrator, Mohammadi reads Italian proverbs and phrases with a musicality that gives them the kind of authenticity needed for a travelogue. Her enthusiasm for all things Italian, from the people to the architecture, and of course the food, is infectious and evident in her delivery. This a romp through the famed city of Florence and a story of one woman's search for meaning that is lively, fun, and entertaining. M.R. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2018 - AudioFile

2018-02-22
An Iranian-born British journalist goes to Italy on an extended work sabbatical and unexpectedly finds the fulfillment that had been absent from her life.When Mohammadi (The Cypress Tree, 2011) lost what she thought was her dream job as an editor for a prestigious magazine in London, she was overweight, overworked, and miserably unhappy. So she took her severance pay and went to live in Florence, where she gave herself one year to try to make it as a writer. Florentines immediately welcomed her with open arms and taught her the concept of "la bella figura," or "making every aspect of life as beautiful as it can be." Taking this cultural lesson to heart, the author embraced the slower pace of life. She shopped at open-air markets for fresh foods and learned how to appreciate the benefits of olive oil, which she took like "medicine four times a day…sometimes drinking [it] straight from a tablespoon." Within a short time, the weight she had been unable to lose in London fell away. Feeling more confident in her newly glowing skin and body, Mohammadi began to wear more stylish clothes that celebrated the femininity she had hidden away in shame "under shapeless black clothes." When an Italian playboy named Dino came into her life, she exuberantly indulged in a sensuality and sexuality she had all but abandoned. The broken heart she suffered afterward became part of an "education" that led her to greater self-appreciation. Her new openness eventually led her to a man whose life as a twice-divorced father of three children she accepted and loved despite its messy complications. Interspersed throughout with delicious recipes and bella figura-inspired lifestyle tips, the book is a down-to-earth modern-day fairy tale for the world-weary that celebrates personal transformation and all things delectably Italian.A charming, delightful memoir of self-transformation.

Kirkus Reviews