Venice Is a Fish: A Sensual Guide

This is an unusual book. To my knowledge, it's a whole new art form. It has the elements of a Hallmark gift book and at the same time those of an underground travelogue. The beauty of Venice is given in prose that rivals that of Maupassant (pp 117-124) whether it is about the vistas, the architecture or scatological issues unique to the city (pp.69-77). The writer clearly loves his topic and the translator the art of translation. (Not having read the original, I presume Shaun Whiteside has coined new words to express Scarpa's intent, for instance: pulchroactive - love it!) There are ruminations on street names. There is advice for the casual traveler on canal crossing fares. There is description of the faded glory, the decaying infrastructure, the art and the past glory of Venice. This is a fascinating, idiosyncratic volume. Will Gotham/Penguin be producing similar volumes on other small but famous cities?