Book description
Surrounded by the sea, cut by as many canals as streets, the city
of Venice is unique. Built on fill reinforced with pilings made of
huge tree trunks, it defies nature and belief. No city has been more
often painted or written about, and it has been a tourist destination
for centuries for its food, cafe and street life. But Venice is dying,
literally sinking into the sea, and its beauty has drawn so many
visitors that ordinary citizens can no longer afford to live there.
Paolo Barbaro returned to Venice after a career abroad and in this
illuminating book he describes the rediscovery of a city, which has
lost none of its power to charm, dazzle and take one's breath away.
The passion in the author's plea for the salvation of his native city
has a deeper source than nostalgia. If humankind cannot stir itself to
save Venice, what hope is there for other endangered cities, places
and animals?
Paolo Barbaro left Venice in his twenties and worked as a civil
engineer around the world before returning to his native city, where he
now lives on the Rio di Santa Margherita in the Dorsoduro area. He is an
award-winning author of sixteen books, both fiction and non-fiction.
