Editors Reads Verdict
A beautiful and unpretentious memoir that demonstrates the quality of attention that makes Doerr's fiction so distinctive — the observational precision that runs through All the Light We Cannot See is here applied to Rome's light, its streets, and its overwhelming abundance of beauty.
What We Loved
- The observational precision — the quality of attention Doerr brings to the city — is the memoir's greatest pleasure
- The twin-baby material is funny and honest without being mawkish
- The account of John Paul II's death and funeral from inside Rome is extraordinary — the city as the world's stage
Minor Drawbacks
- The memoir form occasionally allows a looseness that Doerr's fiction does not permit itself
- Readers who come from All the Light We Cannot See expecting that level of construction will need to adjust expectations
Key Takeaways
- → Attention is a skill that can be trained — Doerr's year in Rome is partly a year of learning to look at things carefully enough to write about them
- → A city that has been continuously inhabited for three thousand years accumulates a specific kind of weight that newer cities cannot manufacture
- → Writing with newborn twins is extremely difficult
| Author | Anthony Doerr |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Scribner |
| Pages | 267 |
| Published | March 27, 2007 |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Memoir, Travel Writing, Literary Non-Fiction |
| Difficulty | Beginner |
| Best For | Readers of Doerr's fiction who want to understand the sensibility behind it, and anyone who loves Rome or travel writing that prioritises observation over anecdote. |
The Prize
In 2004, Anthony Doerr was awarded a Rome Prize Fellowship from the American Academy in Rome — a year-long residency for artists and scholars to live and work in the city. He had just published his first novel, About Grace, and was working on what would eventually become All the Light We Cannot See. He and his wife also had, just before leaving for Rome, twin sons.
Four Seasons in Rome covers the year that followed: the apartment in the Academy’s Villa Aurelia, the walks through Trastevere and the Forum and the Colosseum and the Pantheon, the desperate logistics of managing twin newborns without the support network of home, and the experience of trying to write while sleep-deprived in a city that is itself the most overwhelming argument for attention.
The Observational Life
What the memoir demonstrates is the observational practice that underlies Doerr’s fiction. He describes light the way he describes it in his novels: with precise attention to what it is doing, where it is falling, what it is illuminating. He notices the archaeological strata of Rome — the way each layer of history sits on another, so that modern Rome and ancient Rome coexist in the same street — with the same eye that produces the layered temporality of his fiction.
The death of John Paul II happens during the year, and Rome becomes the site of one of the largest funerals in recorded history. Doerr watches from the streets and the rooftops with the same attention he brings to everything else.
Our rating: 4.2/5 — A beautiful memoir and an insight into the observational sensibility that makes Doerr’s fiction distinctive. Best read alongside All the Light We Cannot See.
Reading Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "Four Seasons in Rome" about?
Anthony Doerr and his wife win the Rome Prize and spend a year at the American Academy in Rome with their newborn twin sons. A memoir about learning to see in a city built from layers of history, trying to write with two newborns, and what the death of John Paul II looks like from inside Rome.
Who should read "Four Seasons in Rome"?
Readers of Doerr's fiction who want to understand the sensibility behind it, and anyone who loves Rome or travel writing that prioritises observation over anecdote.
What are the key takeaways from "Four Seasons in Rome"?
Attention is a skill that can be trained — Doerr's year in Rome is partly a year of learning to look at things carefully enough to write about them A city that has been continuously inhabited for three thousand years accumulates a specific kind of weight that newer cities cannot manufacture Writing with newborn twins is extremely difficult
Is "Four Seasons in Rome" worth reading?
A beautiful and unpretentious memoir that demonstrates the quality of attention that makes Doerr's fiction so distinctive — the observational precision that runs through All the Light We Cannot See is here applied to Rome's light, its streets, and its overwhelming abundance of beauty.
Ready to Read Four Seasons in Rome?
Check the current price on Amazon.
Check Price on Amazon (paid link)Prices and availability are subject to change. See Amazon for current price.
Review last updated: