THE CITY OF FALLING ANGELS

Tomorrow's Sunday Book World in The Washington Post has a rave, front-page review for John Berendt's new book, The City of Falling Angels. John, you'll recall, broke the record for longevity on the New York Times' best-seller list with his last book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil., the story of a gay murder  in Savannah, Georgia, that was made into a move (not a terribly good one, unfortunately) by Clint Eastwood (who's too much of a homophobe --- for example, Eastwood insisted on making John's autobiographical reporter character straight and giving him a girlfriend he of course didn't have in the book -- and was too heavy-handed for such a delicately crafted tale with so much gay ambiance -- the book needed, shall we say, the Merchant-Ivory touch).

Now, in tomorrow's WashPost, the paper's lead critic, Jonathan Yardley, can't say enough good things about Berendt's new book -- set in Venice, where John (below right) has lived half-time for the last eight years researching and writing Angels. Yardley writes that, "Surely as he arrived in Venice, Berendt was hoping for more than an enjoyable stay in a city he loves; surely he was looking as well for something to write about, something that would not be a letdown for him or his readers after the incredible success of Midnight .

"Not to keep you in suspense: He found it. The City of Falling Angels , Berendt's inquiry into people, places and aspects of Venice that tourists almost never see, [is an] entertaining, intelligent and engaging book," gushes Yardley, adding that "the cast of characters is suitably various and flamboyant, and Berendt's prose, now as in Midnight, is precise, evocative and witty." Read the rest of Yardley's review by clicking here. I've visited Venice several times, I've always admired my friend John's beautifully honed prose stylings (he takes so long between books because he's a perfectionist who wants to polish his tales until they sparkle) and his sharp journalist's eye for the unusual, and I just can't wait to get my hands on a copy of The City of Falling Angels -- which you can order by clicking here.

AND WHILE I'M DISHING OUT PLUGS, my talented godson, Robert Levy (left) -- when he's not busy churning out scripts for Buffy the Vampire Slayer -- has been writing a novel, The Ghosts of Partition Steet, and serializing it on the web. He's posted half the book's chapters so far, and it's a fun,.ambisexual, and entertaining read, not unlike Armistead Maupin's delightful Tales of the City series -- you can read Ghosts online by clicking here, and sign up to receive future chapters as Robert writes them (it's an addictive read, a guilty pleasure -- try it, you'll like it....)