Publisher's Synopsis
While the second edition of Venice, an Odyssey, brings Venice's past and present up to date, including the latest environmental and political, and the impact of Covid-19, it remains 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.
GIORGIO CROVATO, historian and a director of Ateneo Veneto, the foremost cultural institution of Venice, describes Venice, an Odyssey
"Nonfiction essay? A guide? A historical text? An autobiographical story? There's a bit of everything in this accurate, interesting, original work created by a writer who has... worked and studied all over the world. As an adolescent Neal E. Robbins attended high school in the city for a year... hosted by a [Venetian family] that after 50 years later he still considers his own... an American who became Venetian.... [he] is the Venetian Ulysses, and he gives everyone the chance to better understand this special city from the Venetian viewpoint.... Neal took to the lagoon in a typical Venetian boat... in the 1970s when the city was living perhaps its last moments of normality before the uncontrolled invasion of tourists... [He returned half a century later] as a journalist-historian [who] magnificently brings these ...professions together, keeping in mind his objective of "unraveling the enigma that is Venice," ... and bringing in a fundamental element: passion. He continually involves the inhabitants of... the historic city and on the islands, people from all walks of life and every cultural level, his old school companions, respected scholars of Venetian history and writers of past and present. With wisdom and judiciousness, Neal confronts the fundamental themes - historical, environmental and social - seeking to overcome cliches, invented traditions, and prejudices.... The 28 chapters and 11 intermezzos focus on the extraordinary contributions of the 150 Venetians in the account that succinctly sums up... the elements of a modern community: Culture, economics and politics... all united by a hope that... Venice continues to enlighten the hearts of everyone."
