Venice for Lovers - Hardcover

Begley, Louis; Muhlstein, Anka

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802118755 ISBN 13: 9780802118752

Publisher: Grove Press, 2008

Synopsis

Every year for all the thirty they have been married, Louis Begley and Anka Muhlstein have escaped to Venice to write. In Venice for Lovers, the couple has fashioned an homage to the City of Water. In her essay, Muhlstein charmingly describes how becoming friends with restaurateurs has been an unsurpassed means of getting to know the city and its inhabitants—Venetians like Ernesto, whose restaurant they have dinner in every night for many years, and who tells them of the great flood that nearly destroyed the beautiful city.  They spend blissful hours at Da Fiore, named by The International Herald Tribune one of the ten best restaurants in the world but which retains its rustic simplicity.

In his novella, Begley writes a story of falling in love with—and in—Venice. His twenty-year-old protagonist is lured to the city by the older woman he adores, only to be left to fend for himself. But he later discovers a lasting love for Venice itself—not an uncommon occurrence, as Begley's brilliant portrayal of the city's place within world literature demonstrates: Henry James, Marcel Proust, and Thomas Mann were all illustrious predecessors in whom Venice inspired dreams of love and passion.

About this title

About the Author

Born in Poland in 1933, Louis Begley is the author of many novels, including Wartime Lies, About Schmidt and Shipwreck. His wife of thirty years, biographer Anka Muhlstein is the author of La Salle: Explorer of the North American Frontier and, most recently, A Taste for Freedom: The Life of Astolphe de Custine. They live in New York.

From AudioFile

Take two well-known writers, novelist Louis Begley and his biographer wife, Anka Muhlstein, give them two decades of summer writing in Venice, add their passion for food and skillful observations about local color, and you've got the makings for great listening. The promise is fulfilled with Malcolm Hillgartner's facile pronunciations, his ease in uniting three short pieces of different genres, and his liveliness, which will capture listeners whether they've experienced the magic of Venice or not. The production's wide variety includes Muhlstein's enticing descriptions of four Venetian restaurants and the owners who seduced the pair of appreciative diners; Begley's nonfiction accounts of Venice's power over Henry James, Marcel Proust, and Thomas Mann; and Begley's novella about a young man who parlays unrequited sex into an ardor for Venice. S.W. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Grove Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0802118755
• ISBN 13: 9780802118752
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 216