text: Talk about taking the joy out of an experience.  I read this book prior to a week-long trip to Venice.  This book quite simply accomplished none of its objectives.  It is a poor "guidebook" and is poorly written and uninteresting in terms of a travelogue.  The history and art of Venice are covered better in books from those genres.  The only upside is that it is short.  Yuck, what a waste of time.  My advice is:  get a novel about Venice if you like novels, a guidebook if you want that, an art book, or a history book.  At least you'll get something out of those--this one tries all of these and fails.  Actually, in terms of a travelogue, "Vendela in Venice" far surpassess any other Venice book I have seen.  Although I originally bought it because it is considered a children's book, it is not dumbed down at all and adults will enjoy it...
  