There is little violent crime in Venice, a serenely beautiful floating city of mystery and magic, history and decay. But the evil that does occasionally rear its head is the jurisdiction of Guido Brunetti, the suave, urbane vice-commissario of police and a genius at detection. Now all of his admirable abilities must come into play in the deadly affair of Maestro Helmut Wellauer, a world-renowned conductor who died painfully from cyanide poisoning during an intermission at La Fenice.But as the investigation unfolds, a chilling picture slowly begins to take shape—a detailed portrait of revenge painted with vivid strokes of hatred and shocking depravity. And the dilemma for Guido Brunetti will not be finding a murder suspect, but rather narrowing the choices down to one. . . .

An evocative and fascinating portrait of Venice, Italy—the ultimate city where there are stories on every street and in every doorway, nook and cranny.\nWhat is it about Venice? The city empowers creativity, and is a place of art, artisans, and artistry, with a rich cultural and intellectual history. It’s also been facing major challenges—including a fragile ecosystem, significant depopulation and political volatility—leading to fears that the city will become an inauthentic museum for tourists.\nNeal Robbins examines this Italian city, reflecting on the changes he has seen since he first encountered it in the late 1970s—living with a Venetian family while he was a high school student—to quite recently, when, after nearly 50 years and a career as international journalist, he returned to see how the city has endured and changed.\nDrawing on his journalism background, Robbins brings deep research, curiosity, and keen insights to his personal experiences of the city, delivering a multi-dimensional profile of this enchanting place. Taking the reader down the city’s streets, into its churches and cafes, and onboard boats traveling through its canals and out into its vital lagoon, Robbins shares the city’s history, symbols, politics, and struggles, as well as its sounds, smells, animals, and many of its remarkable denizens. He draws upon exclusive interviews with Venetians from all walks of life—artisans, historians, a bank employee, authors, parents, a psychologist, an oceanographer, a funeral director, a nobleman and a former pop star—to share multiple personal interpretations of Venice as it was, as it is and what it can be.\nReaders will come away with a rich understanding and appreciation of Venice’s history and culture, the challenges it faces, and what it shows us all about the future.

An impressive new selection of Henry James’s short stories, edited by Pulitzer Prize–nominated James biographer Michael GorraThis volume gathers seven of the very best of Henry James’s short stories, all exploring the relationship between art and life. In the title story, “The Aspern Papers,” a critic is determined to get his hands on a great poet’s papers hidden in a faded Venetian house—no mater what the human cost. “The Author of Beltraffio,” “The Lesson of the Master,” and “The Figure in the Carpet” all focus on naive young men’s unsettling encounters with their literary heroes. In “The Middle Years,” a dying novelist begins to glimpse his own potential, while “The Real Thing” and “Greville Fane” explore the tension between artistic and commercial success. These fables of the creative life reveal James at his ironic, provocative best.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

To Tessa Kiros, Venice isn't just a place to visit, it is also a place to discover inspiring magical moments. She shares these special moments with foodies and fans in Venezia: Food and Dreams.This stunning book is so much more than a cookbook. It's a personal journal, a travel guide, and a memoir about Tessa's love for Venice, Italy, and its special place in her heart--and palate.In Venezia, cooks awake to 105 amazing recipes and 120 four-color photographs focusing on the fascinating city and its famous fare. Chapters include Eating in Venice, Essential Recipes, Cicchetti (small bites), Antipasti, Zuppa/Pasta/Gnocchi, Risotto, Secondi, Contorni (sides), and Dolce (sweet things)."Venice is like when you hear a piece of music that scoops down into your soul, or notice a real tear getting ready to drop from the eye of an unlucky child. One of those rare moments when you grasp the magnificence of this world. Yes, Venice is one of those places." --Tessa Kiros

Francesco shows cooks how to prepare 150 classic Venetian recipes ranging from antipasti, sauces, soups, and fish, to meats, pasta, and puddings. He demonstrates how Venetian food is a fabulous fusion of ingredients brought together over centuries as merchants and traders traveled the Mediterranean. The ancient broeto (stock) and mollusk soups testify to this, as does the richness and variety of dishes based on fish, roasts, grills, tasty deep-fried delicacies, and sauces. Each chapter is introduced with the history and origins of the recipes, and throughout there are personal reminiscences by Francesco of his first encounters with his favorite dishes. As Francesco is keen to tell, his passion for cooking authentic Venetian food comes from home: "When I start talking about cooking, it is impossible to forget my father, his love and imagination for all things culinary. He has never feared unusual combinations of ingredients and seasonings, and I have always been a willing guinea pig."

Venice's rich history is explored by a resident historian, and descendent from a patrician Venetian family in this beautifully illustrated study. Readers are guided from 5th-century Venice to present day, uncovering historical facts and legends and catching glimpses into the lives of its people, many of which are the author's own colorful ancestors.

Venice, 1468. The beautiful yet heartless Sosia Simeon is making her mark on the city, driven by a dark compulsion to steal pleasure with men from all walks of life. Across the Grand Canal, Wendelin von Speyer has just arrived from Germany, bringing with him a cultural revolution: Gutenberg's movable type. Together with the young editor Bruno Uguccione and the seductive scribe Felice Feliciano, he starts the city's first printing press. Before long a love triangle develops between Sosia, Felice, and Bruno -- who has become entranced by the verse of Catullus, the Roman erotic poet. But a far greater scandal erupts when Wendelin tempts fate by publishing the poet -- and changes all of their lives forever. \nSosia, the heartless sensualist; Felice, a man who loves the crevices of the alphabet the way other men love the crevices of women; Lussieta, whose anguish gives the story its soulful heart: these and many other characters make The Floating Book an unforgettable experience for lovers of romance, history, and the printed word.

In Othello, Shakespeare creates powerful drama from a marriage between the exotic Moor Othello and the Venetian lady Desdemona that begins with elopement and mutual devotion and ends with jealous rage and death. Shakespeare builds many differences into his hero and heroine, including race, age, and cultural background. Yet most readers and audiences believe the couple’s strong love would overcome these differences were it not for Iago, who sets out to destroy Othello. Iago’s false insinuations about Desdemona’s infidelity draw Othello into his schemes, and Desdemona is subjected to Othello’s horrifying verbal and physical assaults.The authoritative edition of Othello from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play-Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play-Scene-by-scene plot summaries-A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases-An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language-An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books-An annotated guide to further readingEssay by Susan SnyderThe Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu.

John Stone, a man so wealthy that in the years before World War One he was able to manipulate markets, industries and indeed whole countries and continents, has been found dead in mysterious circumstances. His beautiful young widow commissions a journalist to carry out an unusual bequest in his will but as he begins his research he soon discovers a story far more complex than he could have ever imagined... As the story moves backwards through time, from London in 1909 to Paris in 1809, before concluding in Venice in 1867, the mystery of John Stone's life and loves begins to unravel. The result is a spellbinding novel that is both a quest for the truth, a love story that spans decades and a compelling murder mystery.

The enchanting international bestseller with bonus back matter and a beautiful new cover!Two orphaned brothers, Prosper and Bo, have run away to Venice, where crumbling canals and misty alleyways shelter a secret community of street urchins. Leader of this motley crew of lost children is a clever, charming boy with a dark history of his own: He calls himself the Thief Lord.Propser and Bo relish their new "family" and life of petty crime. But their cruel aunt and a bumbling detective are on their trail. And posing an even greater threat to the boys' freedom is something from a forgotten past: a beautiful magical treasure with the power to spin time itself.

In this brief, intense, gem-like book, equal parts extended autobiographical essay and prose poem, Brodsky turns his eye to the seductive and enigmatic city of Venice. A mosaic of 48 short chapters―each recalling a specific episode from one of his many visits there (Brodsky spent his winters in Venice for nearly 20 years)―Watermark associatively and brilliantly evokes one city's architectural and atmospheric character. In doing so, the book also reveals a subject―and an author―readers have never before seen.