Venice:The City of Falling Angels

Who Lives There?
"Is It Possible to Live in Venice?".
"Will you love a romantic weekend in Venice?"

A review by Sheila Hale

In 1969 UNESCO published a report about the problems of Venice
which included a chapter entitled "Is It Possible to Live in Venice?".
Since 1951, the resident population of the historic centre had
declined from 175,000 to 120,000. A shortage of affordable housing
and of jobs unrelated to the tourist industry was driving Venetians,
some of whom had never crossed the boundaries of their native
sestieri, across the lagoon to the mainland. The population is
now under 70,000, and its average age has risen, as has the proportion
of foreigners who have snapped up the properties of the fleeing
natives.

While warming up for the kill, Berendt wanders around Venice looking
for real, innocent Venetians. On the Strada Nuova, he finds a
comic character dressed like a clown who trades affectionate banter
with the locals to whom he sells plants and organic chickens.
On the Giudecca, he comes across an electrician who dresses up
in various uniforms, posing as a vaporetto conductor, carabiniere,
soldier, sailor, airman, and so on. At a carnival ball, Berendt
shares a table with a man from Treviso who has made a fortune
from concocting recipes for rat poison that will tempt rodents
whose palates are accustomed to garbage rich in leftovers from
the local cuisine -wurstel in Germany, hamburgers in New York,
curry in Bombay. Also at the table is a famous Venetian bore who
talks exclusively about the importance of his family, until led
away by his apologetic wife.



But this is nothing compared to the monumentally juicy power battle
between the two men in charge of Save Venice, an American charity
that restores buildings - and throws ultra-glamorous parties to
guests only too eager to pay $3,000 for the privilege of attending.
Dr Randolph ("Bob") Guthrie, president of Save Venice, is a plastic
surgeon in New York. When in Venice, he drives his own private
motor launch, a Boston Whaler, and insists that the authorities
permit his guests and committee members to be ferried around in
oversize motorboats at speeds that are usually forbidden because
they make waves that damage the foundations of the buildings.
Bob has been heard to say that Venice would be better off without
the Venetians. Larry Lovett, Chairman of Save Venice, is Bob's
temperamental opposite. Glamorous heir to the Piggly Wiggly chain
of grocery stores, he loves to entertain royalty in his palace
on the Grand Canal. He is so fond of royalty that if one of them
is in mourning he demonstrates his friendship by abstaining from
going to parties. After much jockeying for power, Larry accused
Bob of having his hand in the till and then stormed out of a meeting
to start his own charity called Venetian Heritage. "Save Venice,
Venetian Heritage", says a tough old Venetian, "What's the difference?
They're both really just glorified package tours . . . . Why must
they come to Venice to save it? . . . Forget it. Venice will save
itself. Go and save Paris!"

The City of Falling Angels is packaged for the carriage trade
in a silky blue dust jacket, with matching ribbon page marker
and the title embossed in gold. An Italian glossary includes palazzo,
prosecco, St Mark's, Rialto and ciao ("Hello, also goodbye. Used
in the familiar."), presumably for the sake of the 15 million
unwashed tourists who trample unknowingly through the city of
scandal each year. It does not list sgroppino, a mixture of prosecco
and lemon sorbet, which slips down quite easily but can set the
teeth on edge and make one belch.