In the earlier essays in the book (can't tell what order they were written in), Leon came across as strident and humorless. However, as I read I became more in tune with her style and approach and enjoyed reading her opinions and observation about the many topics she covered. An interesting, quick read. ( )

Inspector Guido Brunetti, meet your creator, Donna Leon. Did you know that she's a fearsome old dame who adores animals and opera, has lived in Iran and Saudi Arabia, but loves Italy and Venice best of all? OK, you probably knew that last one but I for one was eager to read her musings when I came across this slim volume at one of my library rambles.

My Venice and Other Essays is just that: a collection of musings shaken and stirred, and as in a cocktail that top layer is a little light. The pieces on Venice proper are so short that they feel like blog posts; and not to bash on anyone's honesty but Signora Leon does come across as more than a tad curmudgeonly and even, dare I guess, unhappy.

Then she sets forth her opinions on men, Italian and otherwise, and these are a bit more involving. Other Italian characteristics- regarding food in particular- are treated with an affectionate yet critical eye. She is scathing of her own hypocricy when talking about animals, and unforgivingly blunt when telling us of her disastrous affair with a beautiful apartment. This last was such a contrast to the odes written by expats to their marvelous castles and farmhouses in Bella Italia that for that alone I appreciated it all the more.

The sharpest criticism is reserved for a certain country, and deservedly so I might add. The dullest section for me was the one about opera, and I frankly skipped most of it. And finally the last section was a delight, and no surprise that it's titled "On Books." The one piece which is a conversation with her good friend Ruth Rendell- what!- where they eat lunch in a cafe is a special treat! Knowing that the next book in my stack is by the very same Ruth, I find I'm altogether too happy at having read this essay just now.

And so I must recommend this to other gentle readers with a caveat: go in with a light foot, do not yearn for mouth watering food rhapsodies, and refrain from putting on your Politically Correct Hat. Then you will be mildly satisfied, and if you happen to be a Ruth Rendell fan, then you can read it for the piece titled "With Barbara Vine" alone, and call it a day. ( )

Four stars for the essays about Venice. The other essays were fine, but just didn't interest me that much. ( )

The Mind Behind Brunetti and a Bit of Bio
Review of the Grove Press paperback edition (2014) of the Atlantic Monthly Press hardcover original (2013*)

See photograph at https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cf2606474212726fc4a7400437fdafd5d89a77d2/0_77_220...
Donna Leon in Venice, Italy. Image sourced from an interview in The Guardian April 15, 2017.

My Venice and Other Essays collects 55 essays written for various magazines and newspapers up to 2013 since Leon became well known for her annual Commissario Brunetti series (1992 - ongoing to date 2021) set in Venice, Italy. The original source publication details and dates are not provided, but some dates may be inferred from the content.

Unless Leon decides to write a full autobiography, My Venice and Other Essays may be the closest we will get to learning something about the personal life of the Brunetti author. In the various essays which have been grouped under some general themes, we get her views on living in Venice, her love of opera, her love of animals, her doubts about men in general and America in particular, and some rather great lessons about writing crime & mystery novels.

The essays are alternatively funny and informative about her loves, but also furious and dismissive about her hates. Only a few glimpses of major personal life events, are seen mostly from the years when she still worked at teaching English literature: she had worked in Iran for 4 years and escaped during the Khomeini revolution; she detests Saudi Arabia and its totalitarian regime based a 1 year teaching contract there; she loves baroque opera the most, especially the works of Handel; etc. There isn't anything too Brunetti-specific, but the general quirkiness of Venetian and Italian customs & bureaucracy are detailed. The essay Non mangiare, ti fa male (Don't Eat It, It is Bad) about Italians dividing food into very arbitrary and personal leggero (light) and pesante (heavy) groups was pretty funny.

The gems here for crime & mystery fiction fans are: the With Barbara Vine essay which finds the pair of writers (Vine being one of the pen-names of crime writer Ruth Rendell (1930-2015) discussing the best murder methods while dining at a restaurant (imagine listening in on that conversation without knowing who they were) and the Suggestions on Writing the Crime Novel, which is like a 10-page mini-course on crime and mystery writing.

CONTENTS
On Venice
My Venice; On the beating heart of the city; Garbage; The casino; Gypsies; Italian bureaucracy; Diplomatic incident; Non mangiare, ti fa male [Don't eat it, it is bad]; Miss Venice Hilton; New neighbors; The house from hell; Shit; Neighbor; Tourists; Da Giorgio; On poor people;

On music
A bad hair night at the opera; On beauty and freedom in the opera; Confessions of an American Handel junkie; Da capo (Callas); Anne Sofie von Otter; Deformazione professionale [Professional Deformation];

On mankind and animals
Mice; Hunters; Gladys; Cesare; Badgers; The woman from Dübendorf (Gastone); Tell me you forgive me, Professor Grzimek; Moles; Battle report; Blitz; My first time eating sheep's eyeball;

On men
Bosoms; The Italian man; Instincts; Oh beautiful little foot; It's a dick thing; A trivial erotic game = okay, so I'm a Puritan; I want a few good men; The developer; Saudi Arabia; The New York man;

On America
My family; Tomato empire; My mother's funeral; Fatties; We'd all be hamburger, Ma'am; On Sprüngli and CNN; The United States of Paranoia;

On books
E-mail monsters ; With Barbara Vine ; No tears for Lady Di ; Suggestions on writing the crime novel ; On dinner with an American physician ;

Trivia and Links
* There are earlier 2007 & 2005 foreign language editions that have been merged with this book, but Mijn Venetië (2007) and Mein Venedig (2005) may only contain some of the Venice related sections. For example, the Mein Venedig (2005) is only a single CD audiobook.

For more background on Brunetti I would recommend this interview with author Donna Leon at ItalianMysteries.Com even if it was done 18 years ago. She discusses all sorts of background to the books and characters and also gives the reason that she won't allow the books to be translated into Italian (and it wasn't because she feared criticism by her neighbours in Venice). ( )

A well-written set of solid essays that kept my interest throughout the entire book. I picked it up to read more about her experience in Venice. I ended up liking her essays on books more than anything else. I would hope to be able to write so well. ( )