“Judy, can you pass the Prosecco?”

Cover illustration for the U.K. edition

While perusing the January 23, 2006 issue of The New Yorker online, I found this little item in The Talk of the Town column about a book that I've been hankering to read: MR. BERENDT’S PARTY. In it, we are treated to a "fly on the wall" view of his soirée for Brooklyn's Prospect Park South book club and an evening's discussion of his new book about Venice, The City of Falling Angels.

Whether it's through films like Nick Roeg's hazy, suspense-filled Don't Look Now, Paul Schrader's creepy The Comfort of Strangers with its dialogue by Pinter, Barbara Kopple's documentary about Woody Allen, Wild Man Blues, or books like Signore Berendt's, Venice is a palpable presence and a mysterious one. I will gladly devote myself to travelling there in his company.