I checked through the entire forum, and was surprised that there was no topic about this.
Anyways, I would like to ask all you learners and speakers out there: what books can you recommend for learning Italian? Now, I'm not looking for just any book, but one that teaches you a lot of grammar, not just touristy phrases like Teach Yourself or Colloquial for Italian. I will not be a tourist to Italy when I go, but a visitor. I'm looking for something that of course teaches you a lot of grammar, has many examples and exercises, and preferably has audio, so I can get a good pronunciation.
I hope there are books for learning Italian out there for real linguists and language learners. Since so many people learn Italian just to go be tourists in Italy, and because all of the idiot Yankees think places like Italy, France, Japan, and China are so amazing and magical, that most book publishers don't make books for people that learn languages seriously, and instead go the route of eggheaded tourists so they can make more money. So, here's me hoping somewhere out there there is a good book for learning Italian, even if it is in Italian. Also, I'd accept anything in German too.