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The City of Falling Angels
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The City of Falling Angels
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The City of Falling Angels
Audiobook12 hours

The City of Falling Angels

Written by John Berendt

Narrated by Holter Graham

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

It was seven years ago that Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil achieved a record-breaking four-year run on the New York Times bestseller list. John Berendt's inimitable brand of nonfiction brought the dark mystique of Savannah so startlingly to life for millions of people that tourism to Savannah increased by 46%. It is Berendt and only Berendt who can capture Venice--a city of masks, a city of riddles, where the narrow, meandering passageways form a giant maze, confounding all who have not grown up wandering into its depths. 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.

THE CITY OF FALLING ANGELS opens on the evening of January 29, 1996, when a dramatic fire destroys the historic Fenice opera house. The loss of the Fenice, where five of Verdi's operas premiered, is a catastrophe for Venetians. Arriving in Venice 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. In the course of his investigations, Berendt introduces us to a rich cast of characters: a prominent Venetian poet whose shocking 'suicide' prompts his skeptical friends to pursue a murder suspect on their own; the First Family of American expatriates who lose possession of the family palace after four generations of ownership; an organization of high-society, party-going Americans who raise money to preserve the art and architecture of Venice, while quarreling in public among themselves, questioning each other's motives and drawing startled Venetians into the fray; a contemporary Venetian surrealist painter and outrageous provocateur; the master glassblower of Venice; and numerous others--stool-pigeons, scapegoats, hustlers, sleepwalkers, believers in Martians, the Plant Man, the Rat Man, and Henry James.

Berendt tells a tale full of atmosphere and surprise as the stories build, one after the other, ultimately coming together to reveal a world as finely drawn as a still-life painting. The fire and its aftermath serve as a leitmotif that runs throughout, adding to the elements of chaos, corruption and crime, and contributing to the ever-mounting suspense of this brilliant audiobook.

Bonus feature includes an exclusive interview with the author!


From the Compact Disc edition.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 27, 2005
ISBN9780739308790
Unavailable
The City of Falling Angels

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Reviews for The City of Falling Angels

Rating: 3.5587468552219317 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    When one thinks of Venice, the imagery of gondolas and waterways and brightly colored carnival masks usually come to mind. Venice itself is a complicated city and lends itself to an air of old world intrigue. John Berendt fell in love with the city the first time he visited. Upon a subsequent visit, Berendt arrived three days after a devastating fire has ravaged the grand a historic La Fenice Opera House. Rumors of arson swirl among the community prompting Berendt to put on his investigative persona and dig in the ashes of history. Eventually, through meeting a cast of colorful characters, he uncovers the truths and fictions surrounding La Fenice Opera House and Venice. Special note: if you want to read City of Falling Angels, do yourself a favor and listen to it on CD and make sure to get the version with Berendt's interview at the end. His explanation for the title of the book is eyeopening.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Journalist and best-selling author John Berendt arrived in Venice just days after the iconic Teatro La Fenice was destroyed by fire in 1996. Berendt spent the next few years investigating the cause of the fire, Venetian popular opinion about the cause of the fire, the history of La Fenice, the plans for rebuilding it, and the progress of the reconstruction. He interviews Venetians, members of Venice's expatriate community, artisans, philanthropists, politicians, and lawyers. Each chapter explores a different facet of Venice and its history. The conflicts he unearths concern more than the cause of the fire (negligence or arson)? He explores conflicts surrounding the legacy of poet Ezra Pound and the conflicts within nonprofit organizations dedicated to preserving and restoring Venice's cultural artifacts. Berendt has remarkable access to key individuals on both sides of the controversies. It makes for a page-turning read. The only thing missing is illustrations.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book produced the same sensation in me as a reader as Berendt's previous work, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil did, which is make me desperately desire to travel to the city in question. Berendt has a true talent for making a place come alive through both description of setting and introduction of character.The nominal main story of this work revolves around a destructive fire at the Fenice Theater in 1996. Berendt introduces us to the investigators of the disaster, possible suspects and also important bystanders and witnesses. In addition to this theme, there are a couple of sub-plots, one involving the late mistress of Ezra Pound and a shady-seeming couple who befriend her and pretty much steal all of the memorabilia of her relationship with Pound as well as other important ephemera she has in her possession at the time of her death as well as the last years of her life. This couple also seems to have had a suspicious relationship with Peggy Guggenheim at the end of her life. The other subplot regards a fight for prominency amongst the leadership of the Save Venice charitable organization. There is quite a bit of name-dropping throughout. Berendt is thorough in tracking down witnesses and others who might have information regarding any of these plot points and seems to have spent years investigating and collecting material for this book. In fact, the last pages deal with the reopening of the Fenice after 8 years of reconstruction, in 2004. Unfortunately, the City of Venice did not have a pleasant reaction to the publication of this book, characterizing it as 'nasty gossip', since many of its prominent citizens are painted rather uncharitably, and unlike Savannah has no need of an American book to make it a popular tourist destination, it has and will continue nevertheless to see visitors inspired by their perusal of this work.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I loved this book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Loved the historical parts of this book, Venice and Italy and the catholic church etc, but wow oh wow does this book become the biggest soap opera ever. He not only mentions every single person he meets, he DESCRIBES them, their history, and if the information led up to being a culprit in the fire then that might be acceptable but this guy lists ALL the people he meets and describes each and every one of them in long and tedious detail, and he describes the lunch dates with several of them, but... oh... so'n'so didn't show up so the author has to explain *that* too! He describes wandering the streets of Venice and describes several strolls and how it's hard to remember how to get around. Oh man, but 1/2 way thru the darn book I forgot what the storyline was. Then, often as not, the author would write something about how so'n'so was probably not involved with the fire - but that was a chapter or 2 later after going over every single stupid detail about how Mrs. So'n'so shopped at such-a-place and Mr. S'n'so's wife like flowers or something equally inane. And , oh yah, going over the fire about 1000 times,. comparing where someoe was situated vs. someone else when 5 minutes had passed, 10 min, 15 min. The final true-ish (theorized) story was not very exciting and not very complex, and was kind of a letdown. Thought this review was overly wordy? that's how I felt about the book. Sheesh.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The beauty of a well-written history book: it can be a page-turner. Berendt has an excellent book, all factual, and exciting.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Not really cohesive enough.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Midnight in the Garden is one of my favorite books. This started somewhat slowly but by the end I loved how the author explored Venice.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Having read "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" I expected this to be a mystery set in Venice. It was, but it wasn't.

    There is a mystery to it but it is a work of non-fiction. The mystery is about the fire in 1996 that destroys the Teatro La Fenice di Venizia, the Fenice (feh-nee-chay) opera house in Venice. The fire pretty much consumes this historic building and the circumstances are suspicious.

    The writer, John Berendt, has arrived in Venice to live for a length of time to explore and experience life in Venice. A city that has its own unique personality. A city built of islands in water. Instead of cars travel is done in vaporettos or gondolas on the water, or by walking. This gives the city a more quieter atmosphere. Things are done in a much different way than in America or elsewhere. An apartment can consist of a whole floor in one of the palazzos or a smaller style of a main floor and an attic for bedroom space. All the buildings are ancient and there isn't much room or allowance for modernization.

    Berendt has access to people from all stratas of Venetian society and he writes about them and their connection to the tragedy of The Fenice. The politics involved in rebuilding this beautiful structure. How business is done and undone among the Venetians.

    It isn't a dry read, but it isn't a fast read either. But it is a very interesting look of what it is like to live and be a part of Venice.

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is an account of the burning of the Opera House in Venice. The author made the story very personal using first-hand accounts from witnesses and natives of Venice. Even though the stories were interesting, the organization of them made it difficult to follow at times. The author would go off on tangents that were interesting, but got me a little lost on the main purpose--the Opera House fire. He would get me back on track quickly though so I was still able to enjoy the narrative.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A fun read about the Venice opera house - the burning of the venue and then the re-building effort. Berendt inserts many interesting historical details as well as input from people he meets in Venice. This book does not have the appeal that _Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil_ had for me because the characters didn't quite come alive in the same way as they did in that book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Can't say it's quite as interesting as the "Midnight" book, but if you've any interest in Venice and enjoy the unfolding of true and unusual circumstances - such as the background behind the fire at La Fenice Opera House you'll enjoy this.
    Berendt arrives in Venice for a long holiday to get to know the city without tourists - just days after fire had destroyed the Opera House under suspicious circumstances.
    Follows it through 8 years later when reopened.
    About city, fire, impact, citizens, colorful characters, arson suspects, trial, SaveVenice organization, politics of groups, etc.
    Read in 2007.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I read The City of Falling Angels in 2008, and did not write a review at that time, but retrospectively the two books are very similar. As in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, there is an event which is shrouded in mystery, in the case of The City of Falling Angels, the burning down of the Opera House of Venice, called La Fenice, or "The Phoenix". In both books an omniscient narrator connects with a cast of eccentric people, who all share connections with "The Phoenix". Similarly, the story takes the shape of a detective story against the backdrop of a mysterious city, and in like ways, the author takes a lot of poetic license to speculate and propose possible scenarios, while his imagination is running wild.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Excellent, excellent book. Non-fiction to rival and outshine any fiction out there. Also, I want this guy's life.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The book started out fantastic. I love a good massive disaster story, and I was immediately drawn into the story of the Fenice Opera House fire. I also enjoyed Berendt's more personal stories of his time in Venice, the cast of characters he met and sought out there, and the sort of "biography of everyday Venetians" the book tried to be. But it just went on far too long. I barely cared about the Fenice fire anymore once we returned to it almost 3/4 of the way through the book, but eventually I was drawn back in, only to change gears again and move onto the internal politics of the non-profit organization committed to preserving Venetian buildings and artworks. I literally did not care at this point, and ended up skimming most of that chapter (to be fair, I'm not sure if I would have cared earlier in the book either, but I probably would have at least tried). But the time I got to the last couple of chapters finally tying up the reopening of the Fenice, I was just reading to get it over with.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The myth of the Phoenix is famous as a metaphor of rebirth and regeneration. In Venice the opera house La Fenice is appropriately named as it as risen from the ashes more than once over its life of more than two centuries. Most recently it suffered a severe fire in 1996. John Berendt arrived three days after the fire. Intrigued by the rumors circulating among the Venetians as to the source and cause of the conflagration, he decided to stay for a while so he could listen to the stories and, experience the city without its usual herds of tourists. For several years thereafter, he followed the investigation. Was the fire arson, or negligence, or maybe an act of God? Or could there possibly be a more sinister explanation, one involving mafia ties?It was this event that served as the catalyst for John Berendt's curious book about Venice, The City of Falling Angels. I call it curious because it is not easily categorized as a particular genre. It is certainly non-fiction, but within that broad category it has attributes of a detective story--about the fire that destroyed all but the facade of the opera house; but it also includes aspects of several varieties of history. In addition to the fascinating story of the arson that ultimately led to the convictions of two electricians there are also historical narratives about the specific literary, artistic, architectural, and political events in the history of Venice.The result is a fascinating book for anyone interested in arcana about Venice or about some of the characters whose stories have become part of the Venice mythos. Both Henry James and Ezra Pound figure importantly in this regard. There are other stories of American ex-patriots like the fabulously wealth Curtis family, and several Venetian clans that are connected with the Fenice.The stories can be spicy whether they are about the feud over the Ezra Pound papers or the boardroom battle over control of the Save Venice foundation. The battle over who will win the contract to restore the Fenice is yet another episode that combines architectural detail with Italian corporate politics. Ultimately La Fenice was rebuilt in 19th-century style on the basis of a design by architect Aldo Rossi.The result of these stories is a book that is exceptionally interesting to read even though Venice the magnificent city sometimes fades into the background. Reading about the city that has been slowly sinking into the sea for centuries is ultimately an uplifting experience.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I was completely captivated by this book, which exists as far outside my usual tastes as a book could possibly exist: a piece of nonfiction tangentially related to opera and immersed in corruption and decadence. If it sounds like you wouldn't like this book, you should read it. Of course, you would probably also like it if it sounds right up your alley. Heather Keast
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I wish John Berendt had written a different book about Venice. One that was about the real inhabitants and daily lives of Venetians. It's one of those places where the myth and exclamations and romanticism of tourists overshadow the fact that for some people, it's just home. There are pluses (the last train to the mainland leaves at 9 pm, and it's expensive to stay at a hotel in the city, so the majority of the tourists clear out for the night) and minuses (oh, those tourists and their obsession with the pigeons in Piazza San Marco), but there are also many unique aspects as a result of its geography if nothing else. At first, I thought this was the book Berendt had written - he started off talking about the fire that destroyed the Fenice Opera House shortly before he arrived in Venice to start writing this book. This led to an interlude about a master glassblower who was inspired to create pieces representative of what he saw as he watched the building burn.I was even with Berendt when he started talking to the expatriates from whom he rented his apartment. Although the couple were somewhat annoying, they were also able to provide an interesting perspective on the city and its ways, a sort of insider-outsider's view. But from this point on, the whole book went down a path I wasn't that enthralled with. The people Berendt talked to and about were often not native Venetians, and usually prominent and filthy rich. The type of thing I enjoy hearing about: Venetians always embellish, and if you don't do the same, they'll be first suspicious and then bored of you. The type of thing I don't enjoy hearing about: someone who has a replica of Casanova's gondola made for their use. A thing that is interesting: Venice is a terrible city for the elderly because of the amount of walking (including up and down bridges) that is required. A thing that is not so interesting: how many doges some count has had in his family. Interesting: why people's feelings about Venice take the form of wanting to "save" it (as one person said, "Why does everyone want to save Venice? Why don't they want to save Paris?"). Not interesting: the infighting on the board of the Save Venice organization and whose name goes at the top of a plaque. The family of long-term expatriates (multiple generations) who own a palace managed to straddle the line, although I think I would have liked hearing about them more if the focus hadn't been on so many other fabulously wealthy people.And through all these stories, Berendt keeps going back to the fire at the Fenice, with the narrative centering around who set the fire (or if it was an accident, but let's get real - it's obvious it was arson). That story would have made a pretty involving article, but it was dragged out and out to make it last through the book's entirety. Toward the end, I started wondering if Berendt had started the fire to give himself something to write about. My advice: read some other book on Venice. I don't know which one, but another one.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Compared to the residents of Savannah, the Venetians seem positively normal. John Berendt spent time as a student in Italy and returned to give Venice the same treatment he previously rendered in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. If you hang around long enough and get the locals to talk to you, eventually all the dirt on everybody will turn up. There is the burning of a historic landmark, the residue of the lives of remarkable people, the machinations involved in running a multi-generational family business, the exploitation of elderly notables by greedy wannabes and of course the living history of one of the most remarkable cities in the world. The pace is rather slow, but The City of Falling Angels will be most enjoyed by those who have trod the Bridge of Sighs. Those who haven't may be inspired to book a holiday there.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I thought Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil was overrated, and there's nothing in this one to change my mind. I've listed it as a mystery, because it ostensibly concerns who might have set the fire that consumed La Fenice (the opera house in Venice), but it's really just an excuse for name-dropping and home decor porn. zzzzz
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    3.5***

    Berendt is perhaps best known for his nonfiction exploration of the intricacies behind an infamous crime in Savannah GA - Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - which spent an unprecedented (and still unbroken) record 216 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List.

    On the heels of that success he arrived in Venice for a holiday – just a few days after fire engulfed and destroyed the famous Fenice Opera House, where five of Verdi’s operas had their premier. The conspiracy theories and counter theories, the gossip, innuendo, half-truths and downright lies surrounding this event captured Berendt’s attention and gave birth to his second book.

    Berendt’s writing puts the reader right at the scene. You feel the warmth of summer sun, bathe in the glow of a beautiful sunset, smell the salty air, taste the champagne and are dazzled by the cacophony that is Carnival. Like Venice itself, the book is peopled with plenty of colorful characters, each with an opinion (and some with facts) about the fire and the restoration efforts. Competing factions seems to care more about coming out on top than about actually rebuilding the opera house. It’s a fascinating and interesting look at one of the world’s most recognizable cities.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The City of Falling Angels is Venice. In this book, published in 2005, John Berendt gives Venice the same basic treatment he gave Savannah in a previous book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. He has a framework and a construction formula. Select a very interesting city, focus on a calamity there that engages all the wits and gossips, draws all the sidewalk (in this case, canal) superintendents. As the details of the calamity and its aftermath trickle out, Berendt fleshes out his tale with what amount to sidebars on ancillary characters and conflicts and entertainments.Here his main event is a disastrous fire than destroys the Fenice Opera House in January 1996. The Fenice is hundreds of years old. Because the canal adjacent to the structure has been drained for needed repairs and renovation, firefighters can't quickly deluge the blaze. They have to jerry-rig hose-lines through walkways and even through some buildings. In the aftermath, new threads develop, following investigations into the cause, following various plans for reconstruction, following competition for the reconstruction contract. The ornate structure's been expanded, renovated and its interior altered over the years, of course, but the archive of architectural plans, of construction plans, is spotty. Recent photos of the interior spaces are nonexistent.As this tale unfolds, Berendt intersperses it with sidebars. • Archimede Seguso, whose apartment is across the canal from the theater is stupified by the inferno, sitting in a chair by a window, watching the fire all night, ignoring pleas from fire officials, his wife, his son to vacate to safety. He is, we learn, a master glassblower, active for 75 years, and now in his late 80s is the patriarch of one of Venice's most significant firms. Berendt recounts the story of glass making in Venice, of family feuds that threaten the creative and business integrity of the firms, and how Signor Seguso energized by the fire.• A group of wealthy Americans are gathering in Venice, when the fire explodes. These men and women are the leaders of Save Venice, a New York-based charity that funds repairs and restorations. Several own palatial residences bordering the Grand Canal and other waterways. Some represent inherited wealth, while others built their own fortunes. As time passes, these powerful folks get to squabbling amongst themselves. Berendt tells pretty much of it.• Ezra Pound was long a resident of Venice, where he lived with his mistress of 50 years, Olga Rudge. When Pound, then his widow, died in the early 1970s, Olga was left in possession of their house and several large chests with the poet and editor's papers. Berendt is drawn to the end-of-life machinations to gain control of those papers and the house. (Now I have to read Pound and about Pound!)Oh, there's a lot more. Anecdotes about daily life in a city without cars. Profiles on the rich, the aristocratic, the political, even ordinary mortals. Can you tell that I really enjoyed this book?What's missing? Photos and drawings. How can you tell about this unique city and its artistic and architectural wonders, about a devastating fire and an enormously complicated construction without SHOWING at least a handful of pictures. The endpapers are printed with a marvellous bird-eye view of the city with many buildings highlighted. But it isn't enough. Check Google Maps as you read.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Mr. Berendt happened to be visiting Venice in January of 1996 when a fire destroyed the Fenice Opera House. Being an author, it would make sense that he decided to write about it.

    Including “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” among my favorite books I had some high expectations for this book. As an account of the fire and the resulting chaos - it was interesting, but as Mr. Berendt delves a little further back into the history and inhabitants of the city the book seems to lose a little momentum. Each chapter is filled with interesting people and their stories but the chapters are little vignettes that do not really come together to make for a book that has a beginning, a middle and an end.

    If I were reading this book as a “travelogue” it would be brilliant. I would be highlighting sections of “must sees” and their history, but as a book read for entertainment; I personally feel it fell a little short. I will keep it on my shelf, and who knows, someday I might be planning a trip to Venice and will pull it out to plan some interesting days.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I think (I hope) this would have been better read than the audio version. The reader, Holter Graham, used a rather breathy phone-sex voice for most of the narration, only letting up occasionally when delivering direct quotes. The story itself reminded me of nothing so much as a society gossip column...
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Clint Eastwood's movie version of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil was so lame that it made me forget what a smooth storyteller Berendt is. And he says all the people are depicted here with their real names and that there are no composite characters!OTOH, I have my doubts that he remembered so many extended conversations with such detail or precisely as the person did this gesture or that. Conversations on the street, walking around a palazzo, getting in and out of a vaporetto? Obviously, he had excellent access. No small coincidence: he hung around Venice for very long periods of time. It's tempting to think that if you camped out long enough in an inbred place stuffed with eccentric characters and a dash of corruption, many, many towns might produce these fascinating vignettes. Sure, there's the organizing principle of the Fenice opera house fire (who/how dunnit?) in contrast with the murder in Midnight, but if this crime hadn't happened, there would have been something else.Of course, Berendt ingratiated himself and must be very charming but you could never accuse him of blowing his own horn. Self-effacing to a fault. Model long-form journalism.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I really enjoyed this book. (Obviously - since I rated it five stars.) The author, John Berendt, is also the author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which I've never read but have heard of the movie. I got it out from the library because it had to do with Venice and I was going on vacation there. It was also one of the few non-travel-guide non-fiction books, which I have a preference for lately.I actually didn't end up reading most of it until my plane trip back to the US. The book centers around Teatro La Fenice, the Venice Opera House, which burned down in 1996. The author finds himself coincidentally arriving in the city right after it burned down and decides to find out the back-story and follow its reconstruction.The book is about so much more than just the fire. It explores life in Venice and is filled with so many colorful characters (I feel like a proper critic, using that phrase) and events. Essentially, Berendt ended up staying in Venice for a while to write his book (I presume) and to have his experiences. I am honestly so jealous.Basically my trip to Italy included 2 days in Venice (too short). Venice, particularly in the summertime, is overflowing with tourists. (Yes, I am aware that I was one of those tourists.) It seems that Venice both loves and hates the tourists, because of the money they (we) bring in and because they never have the city to themselves during the peak season.Because of the overcrowded-ness, the touristy nature of everything we encountered (including restaurants), rude service, etc., etc., some people in our group didn't really like Venice. But I've always had a special for the city in my mind - even without visiting - and I think it deserves a second, and proper, chance. One of the days we were there, we did end up walking through the less crowded areas, and it was so much better. The city is full of little surprises. Plus, we didn't get to get off the island of Venice and see other islands (except - of course - Murano).My point is, particularly after reading books like these, I still see the allure of Venice. I really want to see the non-touristy side of the city, which, I realize, I may never really get to do. But after reading this book, I definitely want to go back and see some of the places the author mentioned. I also realize that I may never get to see the insides of the some of amazing palazzos that Berendt gets to visit (did I mention I was jealous?) but I guess that's what books like these are for right? To introduce you to places you might otherwise never know about!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Berendt's mix of travelogue, history, mystery, and all sorts of fascinating characters in Venice... Particularly enjoyed (and best remember) his account of the gentleman in the rat poison industry. “Mr. Berendt fills his new book with wily figures like the pigeon hunters. But he much prefers the ones trying to bag bigger game. In an interlocking set of stories loosely gathered around the investigation of a spectacular fire, he describes all manner of bizarre patricians and clever parasites, real artists and con artists, annual Carnival participants and those who stay in costume all year round, all united in cherishing Venice’s melancholy grandeur. He seeks out the ineffably, aristocratically strange. The man whose palazzo features three space suits and a stuffed monkey is par for the course.” -Janet Maslin, The New York Times
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Not as good as Midnight in the Garden but a fun read none the less. Makes me want to jump the next plane for Venice.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I read City of Falling Angels a few weeks before my wife and I took our first trip to Italy. I didn't have much time for detailed research about Venice, but I wanted to get a taste of the city's history and culture.I couldn't have found a more perfect book in Falling Angels. While Berendt's tale is ostensibly focused on the fire that burned down Venice's famous Fenice Opera House, the story turns quickly into multiple threads all orbiting around modern and historic Venice.Berendt lived in Venice and so can provide a peek into a Venetian's view of life and existence within this unique city, but he never becomes a true Venetian and so is able to retain objectivity and perspective.I visited Venice as a true tourist, but as someone who wanted to understand what Venice is really like (beyond its reputation as an Adult's Disney World), I felt that Falling Angels added wonderful flavor to my brief taste of the city.The book is well written, very readable and has a strong sense of drama throughout. I highly recommend it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Oh, poor John Berendt. He went to Savannah and got an absolutely spectacular book out of it (MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL). But how often do you become good friends with a murder suspect who is rich and decadent? What could you write next that wouldn't be completely anticlimactic?I guess you go to Venice, try to meet well-connected people, gossip a bit, and write a rather lengthy anticlimax. Alas, that's what CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS is. Next time, John, head for the Cari...more Oh, poor John Berendt. He went to Savannah and got an absolutely spectacular book out of it (MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL). But how often do you become good friends with a murder suspect who is rich and decadent? What could you write next that wouldn't be completely anticlimactic?I guess you go to Venice, try to meet well-connected people, gossip a bit, and write a rather lengthy anticlimax. Alas, that's what CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS is. Next time, John, head for the Caribbean and hunt up another voodoo queen. Or you could always try New Orleans - plenty of drama there.(less)