Venice: An Urban Myth

For centuries, people have been hailing from all four corners of the world to visit the Queen of the Adriatic. Often, prior to arriving, they have already been, sent on imaginary travels by virtue of an inventory of Venice paraphernalia that have anchored the city in the collective memory.Countless books have been published and films released, aiming to provide a glance into the storied past and present of a place suspended on water. With time, an urban myth was born, rising from the sea in all its shining glory.Yet, the real Venice has remained hidden from sight. A city, few will ever get to feel or see. The daily business, a spectacle of sorts, finely crafted and staged by the Venetians - to entertain themselves along with all the others.Against this background, the present book reads as an invitation to lift the curtain in order to reveal all the facets that constitute the everyday lived experience of being in Venice. Written with humorous attention to the absurd details of this urban myth, the anthropologist’s voice echoes from the pages to remind the reader that ultimately, there’s only one rule to follow:“Pretend It’s Not a City”