We tell you what nobody tells you.
The Don't Collection is an independent publishing project. It makes books about the things people get wrong, misunderstand, overlook, or were simply never told — about food, culture, etiquette, places, and the unwritten rules everyone else seems to already know.
They aren't travel guides. They're closer to field notes: curious, a little irreverent, and more interested in why a thing is true than in barking a rule at you.
We don't claim to own the truth. Culture is complicated, and most “rules” are really customs with an argument attached. So the books are built to make you look twice — not to hand you a script.
Curiosity over rules
We'd rather make you wonder than tell you what to do. A good question travels further than a bad rule.
Culture is complicated
Half of what's “wrong” is regional, historical, or just snobbery. We say so, instead of flattening it.
Every claim is labelled
Fact, tradition, or argument — each is marked, so you always know what kind of thing you're reading.
The Don't Collection.
The Collection is written and designed as one voice — dry, curious, and allergic to received wisdom. It reads everything, doubts most of it, and keeps only what survives a second look.
The first title, Don't Eat in Italy, is out now. The next Don'ts are in the works.
Don't Eat in Italy
The real rules, myths and regional habits behind Italian food — and everything you were never told before your first bite.
Read the book — $19.99