John Berendt

John Berendt is famous for his other novel, Midnight in the Garden of Evil. In both novels, Berendt travels to the location and gives the reader an in-depth look into the land and the situations.

In The City of Falling Angels, John is the novel's main character. He narrates the story through his eyes and fills in the real story of Venice as seen while living there. The main story is about a real life incident that occurred in Venice in 1996. The Fenice, a historic opera house in Venice, goes up in flames one night. John Berendt arrives three days after the fire, by sheer coincidence. During his visit to Venice, he decides to take up residence for a few months to study the Venetian citizens. His outlook is that the city of Venice is only part of the story, and that Venetians tell the whole story...