Venice: Tales of the City is an anthology of writing about Venice, gathered together, edited and sometimes translated by Michelle Lovric.The book is organised into themed chapters and each chapter begins with some Venetian proverbs, then moves on to short quotations about the city, and then to excerpts from longer works, including history books and travelogues, poetry and fiction.
Many of the quotations are curiosity-inducing and make one want to read more, which is just what an anthology should do.
Lovric has taken care to curate this eclectic collection in such a way as to not only include passages about Venice as seen through the eyes of visitors and expats living there, but also through the eyes of Venetians, and its fun to compare the two and see how often one sees allusions or direct statements about the city's decline and its glorious past in the texts written by foreigners and Venice as a vibrant, living city in the texts written by local writers and visitors from the time when Venice was at the peak of its power and riches.
The best thing about this book is that it arouses curiosity and a longing for more - it is, in essence, a collection of amuse-bouches to whet the appetite for more, either by the included authors, by Lovric herself (she has written at least two novels that take place in Venice), or by others.
As it happens, I discovered The World of Venice by Jan Morris on my TBR shelf a couple of days ago. I think I should read it while this book is still fresh in my mind.
Read an extract. (Scroll to the bottom - the rest is information about the book and some excerpts from the some of the more favourable reviews).
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