The Road to San Donato Audiobook By Robert Cocuzzo cover art

The Road to San Donato

Fathers, Sons, and Cycling across Italy

Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

The Road to San Donato

By: Robert Cocuzzo
Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $11.87

Buy for $11.87

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

The Road to San Donato is an adventurous and nostalgic bicycling memoir of an American father and son tracing their Italian heritage. Riding rental bikes and carrying a bare minimum of supplies, Rob Cocuzzo and his 64-year-old father, Stephen, embark on a 425-mile ride from Florence to San Donato Val di Comino, an ancient village in the mountains outside of Rome from which the Cocuzzo family emigrated a hundred years earlier.

Prompted by Rob's ailing grandfather, who regrets having never visited his home village, the two cyclists pledge to make the trip in the old man's honor. Despite an expired passport, getting lost, some near misses, and other misadventures, the father and son finally reach the quirky village of San Donato. For Italian Jews in the 1940s, the road to San Donato was one of exile, and many of the people in the village banded together to protect nearly a hundred Jews. While meeting his many new cousins, Rob attempts to unlock this history and glean what role his family played at the time - resistors or collaborators? The Road to San Donato is a generational story that many Americans share and a travel adventure not to be missed.

©2019 Robert Cocuzzo (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Adventure Travel Europe Travel Writing & Commentary Western Europe Adventure Italy Village Inspiring Heartfelt Thought-Provoking
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_webcro805_stickypopup
Beautifully Written Account • Moving Adventure • Descriptive Prose • Meaningful Relationships • Emotional Journey
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
This book was meaningful, entertaining, poignant, and all other possible positive adjectives. I have listened to hundreds of books. This is one of my favorites. The narrorator was great. The quality of writing was equally exceptional. The empathy, understanding, and challenging aspects of this autobiographical story are meaningful for today and speak strongly to humanity as a whole. Now, I want to see if this author has any other creations. Thanks for writing. Don Hohmann

Marvelously Human and Empathetic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

It’s been a long time since a book grabbed me like this. I loved everything about the story and didn’t want it to end. Robs descriptive vocabulary and the audible readers’ tone made me feel like I was right there with them. I admire both Rob and Steve for making the journey and coming to terms with their heritage. Would be a great movie!

Couldn’t stop listening - so moving!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I never wanted this book to end.

What is most striking about this beautifully written account of a father and son's bicycle journey through Italy, is that it is far more of an introspective dive into the authors soul; but with candor, humor and descriptive prose that leaves the reader (listener) squarely alongside. This vivid depiction of the human condition; fraught with all of the things said and left unsaid, done and left undone, intimately weave into one of the best memoirs that I have ever read. There are historical perspectives that enrich the personal narrative in a particularly powerful way. A must read!

Stunning and memorable

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Transfixed the moment I started listening. I loved the narration by James Patrick Cronin. A combination of bike adventure, coping with loss, and insight into family and origins.

captivating

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the depth the author went into. Highly recommend.
Well done.

Good read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This is a very well written book with a great story. So much to relate to and I loved the quotes at the beginning of each chapter.

Great Story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This was included with my audible subscription and I love a good travel story so I decided to give a shot. It was really sweet and entertaining.

Good quick listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This is a great book! It gave a perspective that non-cyclists may not experience otherwise

A great book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This book surprised me. The descriptions of the dad were hilarious. The family connection to an Italian village in the mountains was enlightening in how it described the many facets of Italian life during WW2 when Mussolini joined Hitler. The end of the book packed a punch with colorful personalities and internal dialogue about what family is really all about. It’s a multi-generational coming-of-age story. The narrator was especially good. The author wasted no time but still slowed down enough for the beauty of bicycling in Italy. The connection to historic cycling in Italy was a bonus I didn’t see coming. A trip to repair a bicycle at a bike shop becomes something more.

Entertaining and Heartfelt Story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This book is a great story about family, fathers and sons building meaningful relationships. The book is read well with a clear, pleasant voice and nice accent. Some of the characters use a lot of fowl language so I would not suggest it for young people.

Neat story. Fowl language

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews