- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd (29 Jun 2000)
- ISBN-10: 0140291490
- ISBN-13: 978-0140291490
- Product Dimensions: 17.4 x 10.8 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,978,118 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Stones of Florence and Venice Observed
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
The Stones of Florence and Venice Observed are wonderfully vivid and perceptive descriptions of two great Italian cities, told through their history and art, revealing Mary McCarthy to be one of literature's greatest travelling companions.
Here she depicts Florence through its tempestuous past, from the reign of the Medicis to Savonarola's bonfire of the vanities. Her account is dominated by the splendours of the Renaissance - the statues of Michelangelo and Donatello, the architecture of Brunelleschi, the paintings of Giotto and Botticelli - but she also shows Florence as a living city with a bustling street pageant of sounds and smells. A 'gold idol with clay feet', McCarthy's Venice is a city of illusion and spectacle, carnival and commerce, entrancing visitors with its grandeur and richness, its reflection glittering in the waters of the Adriatic.
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.About the Author
Mary McCarthy (1912-89). As drama critic for the Partisan Review (1937-45), she gained a reputation for wit, intellect, and acerbity. Her novel The Oasis (1949) satirizes left-wing intellectuals, whereas The Group (1963) satirizes an entire generation. Her other novels include Cast a Cold Eye (1950), The Groves of Academe (1952), Birds of America (1971), and Cannibals and Missionaries (1979). Among her volumes of nonfiction are Venice Observed (1956), The Stones of Florence (1959), Vietnam (1967), The Mask of State: Watergate Portraits (1974), Ideas and the Novel (1980), and How I Grew (1987).
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
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First Sentence
'How can you stand it?' This is the first thing the transient visitor to Florence, in summer, wants to know, and the last thing too - the eschatological question he leaves echoing in the air as he speeds on to Venice. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
'How can you stand it?' This is the first thing the transient visitor to Florence, in summer, wants to know, and the last thing too - the eschatological question he leaves echoing in the air as he speeds on to Venice. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Written with flair and panache - not a word is wasted. Witty and amusing - you will never view these two cities in the same light again yet will not miss anything you should have seen!
0 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The book was written 50 years ago, and is very dated due to the huge amount of research that came out since both in art history, and history in general. It's mainly about art history with a bit of travel writing. Both are out of date and also
very dry and boring to my taste. Personally, I can't understand why it's still in print.
very dry and boring to my taste. Personally, I can't understand why it's still in print.
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