- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Sceptre (26 Sep 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0340824980
- ISBN-13: 978-0340824986
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 14.8 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
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- #2 in Books > Travel & Holiday > Guidebook Series > City Of...
The City of Falling Angels
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Product Description
Review
'The story of the Fenice fire and its aftermath is exceptionally interesting, the cast of characters is suitably various and flamboyant, and Berendt's prose is precise, evocative and witty' -- Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post 20050918 'An engaging journey in which the author navigates Venice's shadowy politics, its tangled bureaucracy and its elegant high-society nightlife with a discerning, sanguine touch. Berendt does great justice to an exalted city that has rightly fascinated the likes of Henry James, Robert Browning and many filmmakers throughout the world ... In Berendt's capable hands, the city has never seemed more colorful, perplexing and alluring.' -- Kirkus Reviews 20050918 'Berendt has delivered an intriguing mosaic of modern life in Venice, which makes for first-rate travel writing' -- Publishers Weekly 20050918 'The City of Falling Angels -- one of the longest-awaited literary encores in recent times -- strikes many of the same notes as "Midnight". It, too, is set in one of history's blessed backwaters, a place of crumbling mansions and rococo intrigue. And it, too, teems with a diverse cast of aristocrats and lowlifes.' -- Adam Goodheart, New York Times Book Review 20050921 'An urbane, beautifully fashioned book with much exotic charm... Once again, Mr Berendt makes erudite, inquisitive, nicely sceptical company as he leads the reader through the shadows of what was heretofore better known as a tourist attraction.' -- Janet Maslin, New York Times 20050922 'Thrilling and immediate, a compelling tapestry of eye-witness accounts.' -- Independent on Sunday 20050925 'Mr. Berendt has breathed deeply the air of the city of falling angels ... splendidly entertaining.' -- The Economist 20050925 'He delivers an urbane, beautifully fashioned book with much exotic charm ... erudite, inquisitive, nicely sceptical company' -- Jane Maslin, International Herald Tribune 20050925 'a cultured man, a persistent journalist and a vivid writer ... a worthy addition to the vast literature about Venice.' -- Independent 20051007 'With his sharp eyes and sharp pen, he begins to penetrate the city's own shimmering mask.' -- Scotsman 20051015 'With his keen eye, laconic prose, and almost father-cofessor-like ability to extract self-incriminating admissions from his various interviewees, Berendt is the most urbane and entertaining guides through Venice's social labyrinth.' -- Literary Review 20051015 'Berendt tells his stories fluently, and there are some well-timed surprises and jokes.' -- Times Literary Supplement 20051015 'Berendt has also been seduced by Venice and captured the calm quirkiness beneath the beauty.' -- Alan Whicker, Sunday Express 20051204
Product Description
Taking the fire that destroyed the Fenice theatre in 1996 as his starting point, John Berendt creates a unique and unforgettable portrait of Venice and its extraordinary inhabitants. Beneath the exquisite facade of the world's most beautiful historic city, scandal, corruption and venality are rampant, and John Berendt is a master at seeking them out. Ezra Pound and his mistress, Olga; poet Mario Stefani; the Rat Man of Treviso; or Mario Moro - self-styled carabiniere, fireman, soldier or airman, depending on the day of the week. With his background in journalism, Berendt is perfectly poised to gain access to private and unapproachable people, and persuade them to talk frankly to him. The result is mischievous, witty, compelling - and destined to be the non-fiction succes d'estime of the year.
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First Sentence
THE AIR STILL SMELLED OF CHARCOAL when I arrived in Venice three days after the fire. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
THE AIR STILL SMELLED OF CHARCOAL when I arrived in Venice three days after the fire. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
City of Fallen Angels,
By Mike Blacklock (London England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: City of Falling Angels (Random House Large Print Nonfiction) (Hardcover)
A book written possibly from an American point of view emphasising the various and ongoing fascination and connections that Americans continue to have with La Serinissima. Nevertheless John Berendt gets under the skin of Venice and its people to such a degree that you feel that if you passed them in the Calle you would immediately recognise them from Archimede Seguso to the man of a hundred identities and uniforms to match.Whilst your typical Venetian gets quite emotional quite easily on subjects ranging from pigeons in the city to the increasing maritime traffic through the Lagoon, the author does not let it cloud his view of the situation.For example he provides an insight into the fire at la Fenice from a very different slant, including a view from a near neighbours window of the ongoing tragedy, but one I think that captures the effect of this catastrophe on the city and its inhabitants with a closeness that I have not seen in other accounts of the fire. If you are travelling to Venice do read this book as it will, I believe, make you appreciate the city and its inhabitants with a different view, but one which I believe will get you much closer to what living in Venice is all about. A very good read, however you get the feeling that Mr. Berendt hasn't finished yet with Venice despite everything still captured by the magic of this city?
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another beauty from Berendt,
By
This review is from: The City of Falling Angels (Paperback)
"Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" was such a worthy contribution to the non-fiction genre presided over by Capote's "In Cold Blood" that I cannot now explain why I was so luke-warm about the news of Berendt's latest work.I think I was put off because I thought "The City of Falling Angels" would be something of an art history of Venice. I was also wary about the fact it had been ten years' in production. The same is true of "Something Happened", Joseph Heller's second novel. And, in Heller's case, the fact that the book had been assembled so painstakingly letter-by-letter over such a long period really showed to the detriment of the prose. I accept that, with such a low level of expectation, I was hardly likely to be disappointed, but I quickly realised that the book was just brilliant, evoking not only memories of "Midnight" but, more interestingly, the realisation that the Berendt style is unique amongst the many hundreds of different books read in the ten years between the two, being part travelogue, part social history, part biography and part non-fiction crime. Berendt is capable of unearthing the scent of intrigue from the most innocuous of encounters. His unique talent thereafter is to follow that scent to a conclusion whether that be by way of his personal charm (very few seem to decline his requests for interview) or his considerable forensic powers of analysis. And, thanks to his narrative gifts, he is able to generate real suspense in the leads he has running. In whatever context he meets the various characters of Venice he avoids any commentary letting the words (quoted faithfully) and actions of each speak for themselves and yet by his presentation of the evidence of such encounters he is able get his point across with subtlety. And he meets famous characters from the past too: Ezra Pound spent a great deal of his own life in Venice. Berendt explores his connections with the city and comments on his literary legacy. He unearths a letter from Pound to his (then-teenage) daughter, Mary de Rachewiltz and, as it contains his advice on creative writing, sets it out in full (p196). Of course, Brendt's own prose measures up and it serves as yet another proof that the reader is in the hands of a real professional. I accept there is some art history of Venice in there, but it is well-presented and I have to accept that it even enhanced his tales.
18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent book - and so different from what you think,
By
This review is from: The City of Falling Angels (Paperback)
Amazing - this book is not at all what one may think one's getting! Maybe one expects a gentle wander through Venice, with the odd anecdote, and of course plenty of historical knowledge served up in an oh so casual manner. In short, like a little book of journalistic appreciation of a beautiful place. One or two readers may even expect it to be an insider's guide to Venice- to which they can then point and say "Oh really, he doesn't understand Venice at all". But read the book, and you'll be flabbergasted! Much like the town he is writing about, Berendt confuses you, sets wrong trails, surprises you and eventually makes you realize you've gone in a huge circle to where you've started out from, only with so much more knowledge and experience. His account of the fate of the Ezra Pound papers for example, is one of the most astounding "real crime" accounts I've read - and of course Berendt manages to spin a web which craftily links it up to Henry James' "Aspern Papers". This is a simply amazing book which leave one gasping at his cunning and elegant way of exploring the dark side of the mysterious town called Venice.
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