Books about Small town from Amazon.com

Who hasn't dreamt of being whisked away to a sweet little Italian town buried deep in the countryside-towns with names that roll off the tongue like Vercelli, Portofino, and Tuscania? The small towns sprinkled throughout this expansive book are not only rich with beauty, but are also saturated with as much historical and cultural importance as their sister cities. The fact that they are "off the beaten path"-though sometimes extraordinarily famous for their art, food, and wine, or simply their setting-makes them rare gems even more desirable to see. This book is the perfect guide for those who can't resist succumbing to Italy's charms again and again.
Originally written by and for Italians, this is a fantastic source of inside information. The 101 towns featured represent the 20 diverse regions of Italy and their varied landscapes, architecture, and local specialties. Practical sidebars introduce the reader to traditional artisans-Tuscan saddlers, custom cobblers, tapestry weavers, ceramicists, and crafters of papier-mâché-as well as to the best place to buy Parmigiano Reggiano or the greatest terrace to have tea while taking in a Tuscan sunset. And if that weren't enough to keep you busy-or you have a hard time deciding where to go first-art and architecture are also amply covered, from the history of L'Aquila's 99 fountains to the most elaborate of Baroque churches and the most charming of piazzas.
You will be amazed to see how much Italy has to offer beyond the well-trod paths of Venice, Florence, and Rome. From Asolo to Vicenza, flea markets to fish markets, horse races to open air concerts, this book promises 101 great reasons to go back to Italy over and over.

In 1939, just before graduating from high school in the small town of Ridgeway in northeast Iowa, Everett Kuntz spent his entire savings of $12.50 on a 35mm Argus AF camera. He made a camera case from a worn-out boot, scraps from a tin can, and a clasp from his mother’s purse. For the next several years, especially during the summers when he worked on his parents’ dairy farm, he clicked the shutter of his trusty Argus all around the quiet town. Everett bought movie reel film in bulk from a mail-order house, rolled his own film, and developed it in a closet at home, but he never had the money to print his photographs. More than two thousand negatives stayed in a box while he married, raised a family, and worked as an electrical engineer in the Twin Cities. When he became ill with cancer in the fall of 2002—sixty years after he had developed the last of his bulk film—Everett opened his time capsule and printed the images from his youth. He died in 2003, having brought his childhood town back to life just as he was leaving it. A sense of peace radiates from these images. Whether skinny-dipping in the Turkey River, wheelbarrow-racing, threshing oats, milking cows, visiting with relatives after church, or hanging out at the drugstore or the movies, Ridgeway’s hardworking citizens are modest and trusting and luminous in their graceful harmony and their unguarded affection for each other. Visiting the town in 2006 as he was writing the text to accompany these photographs, Jim Heynen crafted vignettes that perfectly complement these rediscovered images by blending fact and fiction to give context and voice to Ridgeway’s citizens.