An American mystery writer reveals a new character: herself. Leon (The Golden Egg, 2013, etc.) is the author of the Commissario Guido Brunetti mysteries, set in Venice, where she has lived for more than 30 years. In this new collection, Leon muses about that celebrated city, its inhabitants and visitors, unique landscape, arts, culture and food, and also about men, music, animals--and America, which, she admits, she continues to call "home." Most of the pieces are very short, more like journal entries or blog posts than well-structured essays; at best, their form gives them an easy, conversational quality. At worst, they flit too quickly from thought to thought as Leon reveals her passions--for Baroque opera, for example--and her many strong dislikes. Here, a selective list is in order: fat people, hunters, the treatment of women in Saudi Arabia, self-absorbed American men, the proliferation of the words "like" and "I mean" in American speech, sanctimonious diplomats, the grim players of slot machines, and the hordes of tourists who defile whatever place they visit, causing "far greater harm to the planet than have terrorist bombs." Leon writes warmly about music and animals, offering a charming portrait of the modest and articulate mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, an artist she much admires. A lifelong "dog addict," the author fell in love at first sight with Blitz, a dog trained to sniff out drugs and bombs. The essays grouped under the heading "On Books" are not, as readers might expect, about literature but instead include her experiences with the seduction of email, her astonishment over a physician's powers of observation and her incredulity about the outpouring of grief at Lady Diana's death. An uneven collection showing Leon to be a cranky, though sometimes witty and insightful, critic of her times.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Best known for her Venetian mystery series featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti (The Golden Egg, etc.), Leon turns to real life with this engaging yet overstuffed essay collection on everything from her adopted city to animals. Divided into six sections-On Venice, On Music, On Mankind and Animals, On Men, On America, and On Books-Leon muses, reminisces, and often complains about her Italian home of more than 30 years. While Venice isn't associated with cleanliness, Leon makes it clear just how dirty the city is in the bluntly titled "Garbage" and "Shit" (the latter of the canine variety). But in the titular essay, it's clear also that she loves the community feel and unforced camaraderie of her neighborhood, where the city's lack of cars means citizens are "forced to walk [and] forced to meet." A music aficionado, with a particular penchant for the underappreciated Handel, Leon makes the arias and orchestrations come alive in "On Beauty and Freedom in the Opera" and "Confessions of an American Handel Junkie." Originally from New Jersey, though she's lived and taught in locations as varied as Saudi Arabia and China, Leon takes her native country to task on issues of obesity ("Fatties"), the Manhattan male ("The New York Man"), and fear ("The United States of Paranoia"). With most of the essays running no longer than three or four pages, the volume leans a bit too much on the side of quantity (there are 55 essays), but Leon's distinctive voice is reason enough to power through. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

The many thousands of readers who love Donna Leon's Guido Brunetti mysteries love them for multiple reasons, the least of which is probably their plots. Not that there is anything wrong with those plots, but it is the side dishes surrounding the plots that entrance us, especially the character of the cynical yet sensitive Brunetti and the way he interacts with his family. So it is with the essays in this collection of Leon's brief nonfiction writings. Whether she is musing about Venice, expressing not only an appealing crankiness about garbage or Bermuda shorts-wearing tourists but also an unassailable love of the human interaction that the city's car-free status makes possible; or about her love for classical music; or her mixed reactions to America; or her thoughts on men, she never fails to explore the periphery of her topic, deepening her theme and giving it context and nuance. A favorite? How about With Barbara Vine, in which two celebrated mystery writers chat about their favorite ways of doing somebody in ( Oh, I love a good push down the step )?--Ott, Bill Copyright 2010 Booklist

The intricate and exotically nuanced Venice, certainly an integral ingredient in the appeal of native New Jerseyan Leon's -"Commissario Guido Brunetti" mysteries, holds center frame in this collection of essays influenced by the author's 30 years in the "Floating City." Reminiscent of writing by Patricia Highsmith and Ernest Hemingway, Leon's style is sparse and compact-the majority of essays comprise only a page or two-yet not at the cost of detail, insight, or sagacity. And though her travels and encounters surely drive most sections, she doesn't mull or meander, instead offering sharply revealing and precisely vivid sentences. With an alert perspective and skilled hand at turning "the reveal," Leon sparks seemingly exhausted topics such as politics, social customs, hamburgers, or fat Americans into something fresh. Heightening the intrigue, her essays are, with a subtle but nonetheless cunning pomp, rarely what they seem. VERDICT Fans of Leon's Brunetti books will take great pleasure deducing how her thoughts on everyday life on the island may shape and affect her series. Recommended for the author's fans, travelers, writers, and lovers of Venice or Italy. [See Prepub Alert, 6/3/13.]-Benjamin Malczewski, -Toledo-Lucas Cty. P.L. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.