L’Italia al Volante

Abstract

In 1985, Alberto Denzler, director of a marketing company of a large firm, and Paolo Guzzanti, professional journalist, got together to write a book about contemporary Italy. Theirs was no ‘run of the mill’ description of the country, however. Their plan was to introduce, in their own words, ‘un manuale di sopravvivenza nella Babele dei servizi’. A survival manual indeed, for Come usare l’italia offers the reader a fascinating and entertaining guide for whoever wishes to make the most of living in Italy. Written in a ‘tongue-in-cheek’ style like most of the book, this extract concentrates on what many people may think is one of the riskiest activities of modern Italian society: driving! So the theme of this chapter is set: L‘Italia al volante — Italy at the steering-wheel. (A reading of this passage is provided on the cassette.)