The City of Falling Angels

This is a portrait of Venice - contradictory, beautiful, fascinating, a place like no other. It is a first-hand account of the city's struggle to recover from the fire that destroyed the famous Fenice opera house, and a relentless investigation of the lies, corruption and scandal which the disastrous blaze exposed. But most of all, this is a tribute to a people. It is the inhabitants of Venice who are the real stars of this story, from local aristocracy to eccentric street hawkers, from millionaire art collector Peggy Guggenheim to the charismatic Rat Man of Treviso.
Together they form a cast of weird, wonderful, utterly unique characters - the beating heart of a truly memorable book.