"Bari refutes the clichés about the South. Commercial and bourgeois, it has few traditions of baronial and landed aristocracy, unlike, for example, Lecce and Brindisi. The typical average Bari man is sparse, exact, dedicated to his business, fond of old administrative methods and savings. You can see him in the shop, until late at night, through the door ajar, concentrating on the accounts. (p. 768)"