Masters An Italian Affair

Describing piazzas as lined with pizza shops, gelato, and caffès An Italian Affair gives such a vague description of Italy that it could be set anywhere. While the idea of the narrator being someone who has seen Italy many times may be responsible for the almost lack of interest in her surroundings it is over done to the point that a clear setting is often not given. When outside of the cities intense details about the beaches, mountains, and especially the mask of radioactive mud the narrator is given are finally described. None of these, however, is so strongly tied to Italy as to warrant the Title An ITALIAN Affair instead of just naming the novel An Affair. In addition to skimming over the physical aesthetics of Italy the people are also often forgotten. This is not to say that there are no Italians in the work but instead that the few Italians, mostly the narrator's close friends, are either written as too busy to spend a long time with the narrator, which limits their impact, or as having extremely clichèd comments which sets up the plot but doesn't characterize the local people. The most vibrant characters are, in fact, other foreigners, such as the French professor, on whom many lines are used describing mannerisms and history. Due to this An Italian Affair could be set in any vacation town or resort where a mud mask could be bought and a man found.