No Vulgar Hotel: The Desire and Pursuit of Venice | 
| Authors: Judith Martin, Eric Denker
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 81423
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.9
ISBN: 0393330605
Dewey Decimal Number: 910
EAN: 9780393330601
ASIN: 0393330605
Publication Date: March 24, 2008
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Product Description
"Add No Vulgar Hotel to the list of books you must read before you come to Venice."—Donna Leon
This is the definitive book for managing an incurable passion for a decaying, water-logged village. Whether you already have a raging case of Venetophilia or are among the fifteen million people who yearly put themselves in danger of contracting it, here is where you get your fix of Venetian wit, history, practicality, and enchantment. 35 illustrations.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 A mockery of the soul - by a confessed lagoonatic July 17, 2008
I confess. I have a poster-sized repro of the 1500 deBarbari map on the wall of my study and I fly the standard of San Marco at my house. If Venice is in the marrow of your bones as it is in mine, you will probably laugh and cry your way through the meandering narration of this book as I have. However, I would not recommend this book to the novice. There is a bit too much of the esoteric and self-indulgent to be really useful as a tourist guide. You decide.
an epidemic September 16, 2007
5 out of 9 found this review helpful
Judith Martin ought to be placed in quarantine as the most threatening carrier of a communicable disease since Typhoid Mary. Her 'No Vulgar Hotel' not only threatens to spread Venetophilia (her coinage, it seems) among the uninefected at epidemic strength; it may well render milder fevers than hers terminally virulent. Beware, after reading this delightful book, of the usual symptoms of this incurable contagion -- the urge to buy and repair decaying, waterlogged and insanely overpriced palazzi, the wearing of scary masks other than on Hallowe'en, a fascination with saints and saint's relics, the adoption of Venetian ancestors (whether they're actually ancestral or not), the collection of gimcracks and gismos whose only value is a tenuous connection with Venice, and not least the impulse to go to bad or mediocre movies merely because they have pictorial connections with Venice; and finally, at the risk of drowning, to go into training as amateur gondoliers." -- Edwin M. Yoder Jr., author of "Lions at Lamb House" and other books.
 It doesnt deserve one star. August 21, 2007
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
Cute title. After that this book sinks into the canal. I agree with another poster I do not think Ms Martin wrote much of this book. If she did she should be ashamed.
If you want to read a good book about Venice read CITY OF THE FALLING ANGELS. Or read any Donna Leon book all set in Venice and all excellent mysteries that are filled with the life of the people of Venice.
This book is just boring!
Don't Bother July 24, 2007
8 out of 11 found this review helpful
This is a book without a purpose, beyond the self-adulation of the author. It has nothing new which is relevant to Venice nor is it insightful about its history, culture, or physical presence. There is not even anything relevatory about her experience in the city. These are simply Ms. Martin's musings about a city that she likes a lot. Unfortunately, it's hard to care.
Mixed review... July 13, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I agree with the other posters that Judith Martin's tone is self-adulatory to the point of self indulgence. That, of course, isn't my favorite part of this book. However there is new stuff here that I didn't know and I've been returning "home" to Venice regularly for many years.
I actually bought this book hoping, among other things, to learn about hat etiquette (as excerpted on this Amazon page), since I sometimes wear a hat in Venice and would hate to be doing it the wrong way. I didn't find it, and that's a shame. Advising on such matters is--or ought to be--the author's forte. Imho it's too bad Miss Manners didn't write this book.
(By the way, another poster mentioned something called the "Venice Card," which is a discount gimmick for the tourists. This is quite different from the city-issued photo I.D. which allows a resident to purchase the monthly vaporetto pass for 30 euro, and this is what Martin was writing about. I didn't find it too awfully difficult to obtain, but maybe that has changed. My own abbonamento expired years ago but the brusque lady behind the counter still honors it every time, bless her heart.)
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