The city of falling angels
By: John Berendt.
Publisher: Penguin Press
Published: 2005
Place of publication: New York, USA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 414
Copyright date: 2005
Subjects: Teatro La Fenice -- Fire, 1996; Venice (Italy) -- Description and travel; Venice (Italy) -- Social life and customs
Description: Venice, a city steeped in a thousand years of history, art and architecture, teeters in precarious balance between endurance and decay. Its architectural treasures crumble--foundations shift, marble ornaments fall--even as efforts to preserve them are underway. This book opens in 1996, when a dramatic fire destroys the historic Fenice opera house, a catastrophe for Venetians. Arriving three days after the fire, Berendt becomes a kind of detective--inquiring into the nature of life in this remarkable museum-city--while gradually revealing the truth about the fire. He introduces us to a rich cast of characters, Venetian and expatriate, in a tale full of atmosphere and surprise which reveals a world as finely drawn as a still-life painting. The fire and its aftermath serve as a leitmotif, adding elements of chaos, corruption, and crime and contributing to the ever-mounting suspense. -- From publisher description.
Notes: Map of Venice on endpapers.