I'm up to page 214 and realize I don't give a rip about any of these people. In fact, I dislike most of them. It's perhaps natural to want to represent the quirky and colorful, but this book makes it seem Venice is full of the delusional and corrupt. Have decided not to finish.

To BethanieKay.

Received today from ghir .... thanks again for your willingness to send me this!

I'm going to say that I didn't love this book, but I liked it. A part of me wishes I had read this before I went to Venice a few weeks ago, as some of the tidbits in the book about the history of Venice were interesting. Also, there were quite a few mentions of different buildings that I would have paid attention to more, knowing the story behind them, while I was there visiting.

Aside from that - parts of the story were interesting, and others were downright boring (and I skimmed through), either because the characters were boring or just unlikeable. I was especially disgusted by the corruption, mistrust, deception and betrayal that seem to be mainstream in Venice. I have a lot of experience with Greece, and it seems like Italy is very similar to Greece in terms of the level of corruption, nepotism and cronyism that exist at all levels.

Regardless - it was an interesting read, and I'm glad I read it. Thanks again, ghir, for sending it my way.

I'm loaning this to my colleague Dana, who visited Venice with me and might be interested in reading it.

Received back from Dana.

AVL

Sending this in trade to ladyofunicorns in New Mexico. Enjoy!

I received this in the mail! Thanks so much for the trade!

Wow. I really enjoyed this book. I loved the flow of the words. I kept forgetting that it was a non-fiction book, it just flowed so nicely. I did enjoy the characters and I do wonder if Venice is really that way or if it is just the author's perception of it.

This book is now up for grabs!