The City of Falling Angels [Paperback]

The #1 New York Timesbestseller!

Twelve years ago,Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evilexploded into a monumental success, residing a record-breaking four years on theNew York Timesbestseller list (longer than any work of fiction or nonfiction had before) and turning John Berendt into a household name.The City of Falling Angelsis Berendt's first book sinceMidnight, and it immediately reminds one what all the fuss was about. Turning to the magic, mystery, and decadence of Venice, Berendt gradually reveals the truth behind a sensational fire that in 1996 destroyed the historic Fenice opera house. Encountering a rich cast of characters, Berendt tells a tale full of atmosphere and surprise as the stories build, one after the other, ultimately coming together to portray a world as finely drawn as a still-life painting.Funny, insightful, illuminating... [Venice] reveals itself, slowly, discreetly, under Berendt's gentle but persistent prying. (The Boston Globe)

Berendt has given us something uniquely different....Thanks to [his] splendid cityportrait, even those of us far from Venice can marvel. (The Wall Street Journal)John Berendt has been a columnist forEsquireand the editor ofNew Yorkmagazine, and is the author ofMidnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which was a finalist for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize in general nonfiction.

INTRODUCTION

Twelve years ago, John Berendit'sMidnight in the Garden of Good and Evilexploded onto the literary scene and stayed on theNew York Timesbestseller list for a record-breaking four years.The City of Falling Angels, Berendt's first book sinceMidnight, is the same unique brand of literary nonfiction that made him a household name. LikeMidnight,Falling Angelsis a masterpiece of journalism, storytelling, and social insight, doing for Venice whatMidnightdid for Savannah, Georgia. It lc1