02051cam a2200265 4500 333245475 TxAuBib 20171114120000.0 061003s2006||||||||||||||||||||||||eng|u 9780143036937 0143036939 (OCoLC)71820133 TxAuBib Berendt, John, 1939- The city of falling angels / John Berendt. New York : Penguin Books, 2006. 414 p. : map ; 25 cm. Map of Venice on endpapers. The Venice effect -- An evening in Venice -- Dust & ashes -- At water level -- Sleepwalking -- Slow burn -- The rat man of Treviso -- Glass warfare -- Expatriates: the first family -- The last canto -- For a couple of bucks -- Opera buffa -- Beware of falling angels -- The man who loved others -- The inferno revisited -- Open house. 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. 20171114. Teatro La Fenice Fire, 1996. Venice (Italy) Description and travel. Venice (Italy) Social life and customs.