Venetian Dreaming

Venetian Dreaming
by Paula Weideger

Venetian Dreaming
List Price: $26.00
Our Price: $0.75
You Save: $25.25 (97%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Paula Weideger
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2002-06-04
ISBN: 0671047299
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: Atria

Book Reviews of Venetian Dreaming

Book Review: Venetian dreams... of a copy editor
Summary: 3 Stars

This book, despite its flaws, is worth reading for its evocative descriptions of contemporary Venice. Indeed, Paula Weideger is capable of writing lovely passages filled with grace, intelligence and humor.

However, she never met a comma (or an em-dash, for that matter) that she didn't leave out! Great, long stretches of prose gallop in a headlong rush without gasping for air (or even a sip of Prosecco). How did this book get published without a good copy editor? It could have been so much stronger.

Plus, the book suffers from a compulsive need to gossip, about people's clothes, physiques, manners, etc., that doesn't add to the narrative. The author may have thought this was descriptive information, but it ends up sounding mean-spirited and judgmental. In the long run it's simply tedious for a reader to have to wade through.

Summary of Venetian Dreaming

Paula Weideger boarded a "vaporetto" on the Grand Canal, and under the sunny blue Venetian sky she, like millions of others, fell in love with the city. Venice was where she wanted to live and, with a combination of luck and determination, she did. This is the story of her adventures in one of the world's most treasured places. Follow in her footsteps as Weideger makes her way into the labyrinth and discovers the city's secrets. There are mysteries, obstacles, and surprises -- many of them delightful -- at almost every turn. Always there are puzzles to solve: How to find an apartment? Where to buy take-away lasagne? Will she ever learn Italian or, more urgently, can she stop getting lost? Is it true that Venice is about to drown -- or that speeding drivers destroy magnificent buildings in this city without cars? Weideger's search for a home eventually takes her to "Palazzo Dona dalle rose," perhaps the last palace in Venice to be continuously occupied by the family of the man who built it -- in this case a legendary "doge." She describes the rooms and their exquisite furnishings with a sensitive eye and an affectionate touch, and shows us how the story of the house fits together with the history of Venice and becomes part of her own. Venice's art and architecture are a constant presence. Yet even more strongly felt is the passage of time, the panorama of the seasons as reflected in special events -- Carnival, the Film Festival, September's historic regatta, Midnight Mass at San Marco -- they are all here. And people. Always people. We accompany Weideger as she explores the Ghetto, meets nobility and boatmen, artists and fish mongers. We learn how she makes peace withthe ghost of Peggy Guggenheim, how her home is threatened, if briefly, by the Merchant Ivory crowd, and how she manages to survive both high water and high drama with her landlady, along with much, much more. Weideger's vision of Venice -- wry, intelligent, and love struck, if occasionally blurred by tears -- is at once haunting and down-to-earth. With a glass of "Prosecco," the traveler, armchair or otherwise, will experience a perfect pleasure.

General Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Simona Says, Read these Tales of Travel
Into the Wild ImageInto the Wild
by Jon Krakauer
Anchor; Published: 1997-01-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.21
Price in other shops: $13.95
French Revolutions: Cycling the Tour de France ImageFrench Revolutions: Cycling the Tour de France
by Tim Moore
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2002-06-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.24
Price in other shops: $23.95
In a Sunburned Country ImageIn a Sunburned Country
by Bill Bryson
Broadway; Published: 2001-05-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.74
Price in other shops: $14.95
Toujours Provence ImageToujours Provence
by Peter Mayle
Vintage; Published: 1992-06-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.75
Price in other shops: $13.95
A Thousand Days in Venice: An Unexpected Romance ImageA Thousand Days in Venice: An Unexpected Romance
by Marlena de Blasi
Algonquin Books; Published: 2002-06-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.87
Price in other shops: $23.95
Eastward to Tartary: Travels in the Balkans, the Middle East, and the Caucasus ImageEastward to Tartary: Travels in the Balkans, the Middle East, and the Caucasus
by Robert D. Kaplan
Vintage; Published: 2001-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.61
Price in other shops: $14.95
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (Official Guides to the Appalachian Trail) ImageA Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (Official Guides to the Appalachian Trail)
by Bill Bryson
Broadway; Published: 1999-05-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.98
Price in other shops: $14.95
Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses ImageWalking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses
by Bruce Feiler
Harper Perennial; Published: 2002-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.87
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Curve of Time: The Classic Memoir of a Woman and Her Children Who Explored the Coastal Waters of the Pacific Northwest (Adventura Books) ImageThe Curve of Time: The Classic Memoir of a Woman and Her Children Who Explored the Coastal Waters of the Pacific Northwest (Adventura Books)
by M. Wylie Blanchet
Seal Press; Published: 2002-02-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.38
Price in other shops: $15.95
Take Me With You: A Round-the-World Journey to Invite a Stranger Home ImageTake Me With You: A Round-the-World Journey to Invite a Stranger Home
by Brad Newsham
Ballantine Books; Published: 2002-02-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.72
Price in other shops: $19.00
Similar Books and other products
Lucia: A Venetian Life in the Age of Napoleon ImageLucia: A Venetian Life in the Age of Napoleon
by Andrea Di Robilant
Knopf; Published: 2008-01-22; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.50
Price in other shops: $24.95
That Summer in Sicily: A Love Story ImageThat Summer in Sicily: A Love Story
by Marlena De Blasi
Ballantine Books; Published: 2008-05-20; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.51
Price in other shops: $24.00
Blood from a Stone: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery ImageBlood from a Stone: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery
by Donna Leon
Atlantic Monthly Press; Published: 2005-03-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.62
Price in other shops: $23.00
A Noble Radiance ImageA Noble Radiance
by Donna Leon
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2003-08-26; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.12
Price in other shops: $7.99
In the Company of the Courtesan: A Novel ImageIn the Company of the Courtesan: A Novel
by Sarah Dunant
Random House Trade Paperbacks; Published: 2007-02-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.37
Price in other shops: $13.95
Tree of Smoke: A Novel ImageTree of Smoke: A Novel
by Denis Johnson
Picador; Published: 2008-09-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.88
Price in other shops: $16.00
A Thousand Days in Venice: An Unexpected Romance ImageA Thousand Days in Venice: An Unexpected Romance
by Marlena De Blasi, Marlena De Blasi
Algonquin Books; Published: 2002-06-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $23.15
Price in other shops: $23.95
The Wings of the Dove ImageThe Wings of the Dove
BOHMAN CARTER,HELEN; Release date: 1999-09-14; DVD
Best price: $5.83
Price in other shops: $14.99
Venice from the Ground Up (From the Ground Up) ImageVenice from the Ground Up (From the Ground Up)
by James H. S. McGregor
Belknap Press; Published: 2008-04-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.89
Price in other shops: $18.95
The City of Falling Angels ImageThe City of Falling Angels
by John Berendt
The Penguin Press; Published: 2005-09-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.87
Price in other shops: $25.95
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories