Mrs. Pekelis teaches Italian at Sarah Lawrence and her extensive thesaurus of idioms and expressions is for those who have at least Italian 316 under the belts they no longer wear. Or-- they must have a certain conversational skill sulla punta della lingua (on the tip of one's tongue). However, for those who wish to attain a considerable fluency in the language, whether in reading it or speaking it, this book will serve to supplement the dictionary, Punto e basta. Period.