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The City of Falling Angels (Paperback)

by John Berendt (Author) "THE AIR STILL SMELLED OF CHARCOAL when I arrived in Venice three days after the fire ..." (more)
3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
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The City of Falling Angels + Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil + Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil [1998] [DVD]
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Product details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Sceptre (7 Sep 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0340825006
  • ISBN-13: 978-0340825006
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 45,668 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review

'Berendt's descriptions of people and places are well-honed and he has an ear for a good yarn as well as an obvious knack for getting people to talk revealingly' -- Laurence Phelan, Independent on Sunday 'Fascinating, fantastic... Intrigue, too, stems from the burning of the Fenice opera house in 1996 and here Berendt's enthusiasm for juicy recriminations become almost palpable.' -- Stephanie Cross, Observer It's a fascinating read' -- Jonathan Gibbs, Telegraph 'Glittering, entertaining and anecdote-filled.' -- Sunday Times 'The inhabitants of Venice are the real stars of the story' -- Sunday Telegraph

Review

‘Berendt’s descriptions of people and places are well-honed and he has an ear for a good yarn as well as an obvious knack for getting people to talk revealingly’

(Laurence Phelan, Independent on Sunday )

‘Fascinating, fantastic. . . Intrigue, too, stems from the burning of the Fenice opera house in 1996 and here Berendt’s enthusiasm for juicy recriminations become almost palpable.’

(Stephanie Cross, Observer )

It’s a fascinating read’

(Jonathan Gibbs, Telegraph )

‘Glittering, entertaining and anecdote-filled.’

(Sunday Times )

‘The inhabitants of Venice are the real stars of the story’

(Sunday Telegraph )
See all Product Description
Inside This Book (Learn More)
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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
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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The City of Falling Angels
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The City of Falling Angels 3.4 out of 5 stars (16)
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Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil 4.5 out of 5 stars (25)
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Venice
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Customer Reviews

16 Reviews
5 star:
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4 star:
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3 star:
 (5)
2 star:
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1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.4 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book - and so different from what you think, 9 Aug 2006
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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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars City of Fallen Angels, 3 Mar 2006
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?

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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining but flawed, 10 Feb 2006
By Barton Keyes "barton keyes" (England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: The City of Falling Angels (Hardcover)
City of Falling Angels is essentially a well-written poiece of gossip -- a forum for the rich and famous philanthopists of the Save Venice charity to bite each other's backs by revealing nuggets of juicy scandal for Berendt to re-hash.

He slings hash very well, it has to be said, and is a consistently entertaining gossip-- although for my money the chapter on the problems of the Pound family could have been entirely dispensed with. But the history of the Save Venice Fund is rivetingly good -- even though it has little to do with the fire that consumed Teatro La Fenice

The book only really takes off when the story of the Fenice fire is being pursued and then it becomes very good piece of writing indeed. In fact it could have been even better if Berendt had stuck to the main topic instead of being bedazzled by the inane antics of a small group of self-serving 'philanthropists' and had illuminated the Byzantine history of the fire and the reconstruction more rigorously.

I listened to the book on audio CDs and found it whiled away long and boring car journeys very satisfactorily. But while Berendt is a consummate writer his occasionally arch pronunciation of Italian (or even English) is sometimes distracting to the listener. Readers of course would have no such problems.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars A non story
After enjoying his debut book Midnight in the garden of good and evil I found The city of falling angels to be a major disappointment mainly due to the absence of a substantial... Read more
Published 10 months ago by H. Rogers

3.0 out of 5 stars travelogue-style visit to Venice
As a fan of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" I probably am in the same class as most readers of both books in being disappointed by this second one. Read more
Published 14 months ago by gilly8

2.0 out of 5 stars too many outsiders not enough venetians
I had wanted to read this book for a long time as I enjoy anything relating to Venice and its history however I was a little disappointed. Read more
Published 16 months ago by mrs pisaroni

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Expectations Not Fulfilled
I know what I expected from a new book by Berendt. I expected something better than the last. I realize now that it was a lot to expect. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Ford Ka

2.0 out of 5 stars Limited sympathy for small-town gossip
I found this on a second-hand stall one Saturday morning a few weeks ago. The unique qualities of Venice have fascinated millions of people for hundreds of years, and though we... Read more
Published on 24 July 2007 by Jeremy Walton

3.0 out of 5 stars Social climbing in Venice
Author John Berendt hunts down some of the biggest social climbers on the lagoon. Arriving in Venice just as the Fenice opera house goes up in flames, Berendt creeps around the... Read more
Published on 31 Jan 2007 by SE Killick

4.0 out of 5 stars Another beauty from Berendt
"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... Read more
Published on 7 Jan 2007 by Mr. S. Miller

2.0 out of 5 stars No real insight
Described as a book centred on an investigation in to the disastrous fire at La Fenice (Venice's totemic opera house), it certainly looked that way from the first chapter. Read more
Published on 15 Dec 2006 by Blencathra

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book
I loved this book and didn't want it to end. I got lost in the characters and as a lover of Venice, found the descriptions of the city to be evocative. Read more
Published on 15 Nov 2006 by Nannoo

3.0 out of 5 stars Venice, and the angels
I read this book as I had recently returned from Venice, and I would not recommend it.

I like a page turner, a mystery. I was disappointed. Read more
Published on 10 Nov 2006 by Ms. S. Gunn

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