Venice Is a Fish Hardback - 2008

Media reviews

'Venice is a Fish is a gorgeous tribute to one of the strangest and most beautiful cities on Earth. Was it Henry James or Mary McCarthy who said, 'There is nothing new to say about Venice?" Tiziano Scarpa has proved them both wrong.'
-Erica Jong

'For as long as Venice has existed, people have been writing about her, yet Tiziano Scarpa brings a remarkable freshness to his lively descriptions and explanations of the essence of Venice.'
-Jane da Mosto, co-author of The Science of Saving Venice

'Scarpa's approach is from the soul, not the mind. [This book] says more about Venice than you'd ever imagine.'
-Independent on Sunday (UK)

'Plenty of practical advice to steer a tourist through the city, and fascinating insights into its customs and historya lovely introduction to a magical city.'
-Sunday Express (UK)

'A splendidly fishy guide to Venice from a witty and imaginative writer. To write originally about Venice must be one of the greatest challenges a writer can take up. Every year, hundreds of books on the city are published, but none resembles this one.'
-Independent (UK)

'A beautifully written book with one of the most refreshing insights into Venice that has ever been published. You'll be gripped from the first line'
-Italy Magazine

'This is a very unsettling guide to Venice. It contains the addresses of no museums, hotels or restaurants. In Venice is a Fish, the author invites the reader to partake in sensual experiences that will enable her to discover the most intimate facets of the city. It's a funny initiation ceremony where one learns how to stand on a gondola, to cross barefoot muddy canals and caress eyes shut the faces of statues. Tiziano Scarpa's intelligence is a delight. Using stylistic audacity and literary remixes, he carries off an ambitious intellectual enterprise.'
-Elle (France)

"A short, wonderful ode to the city. To touch it, feel it, describe it in all its bends and angles, to caress the myth, this is the aim of the writer. He ends his stroll in the 'Venetian langour' with these words that constitute a declaration of love: 'There is no better place than this one." -Le Figaro