Just Passing Through; A Seven-Decade Roman Holiday: The Diaries and Photographs of Milton Gendel by Milton Gendel was a neat look at some delightful black and white photographs. This was pretty interesting to me!

I knew nothing about Milton Gendel when I started reading this, but his life sounded fascinating and I think the book was well written enough that even someone like me could find a lot of value in the reading. This is a skim of what seems to be decades of diaries and photos. I would have liked the book to have been longer, which is a good sign. I would also have appreciated slightly less photos of Princess Margaret and more of other subjects but I can totally understand why it was felt that candid photos of a notorious royal princess might have been a bigger draw for most people.

Thanks to Netgalley and FSG for the ebook. The author, who makes his way to Rome as a Fulbright Scholar, ends up spending the rest of his life there. A great listener and with a wonderful eye, his diary thoughts and intimate photos make up this book. The author is at the center of the world’s art scene that passes through Rome, giving us thoughts of Gore Vidal, Peggy Guggenheim, Mark Rothko and dozens more. A fascinating portrait of a lost world and the author shines a new light on these huge artists and personalities in their everyday lives.