Synopsis: Venice has to be the world's most heartstoppingly beautiful and haunting city. For visitors and inhabitants over the centuries it has always been a place rich in history, romance, mystery and intrigue. For writers, artists, filmmakers and others it has been a powerful source of inspiration for their work city-pick Venice brings together over sixty of the very best writers on Venice, whose novels, memoirs, journalism, blogs, diaries and letters wonderfully evoke the past and present of La Serenissima as never before.

From arriving in Venice by sea with Jan Morris and crossing the ominous Bridge of Sighs with Casanova … to getting under the skin of the Biennale with Geoff Dyer and learning about Venice the hard way with Bidisha … from taking a sultry summer gondola ride with Thomas Mann and climbing up to San Marco's horses with Sally Vickers' Miss Garnett … to hearing all about the city from Venetian residents Tiziano Scarpa and novelist and palazzo owner Michelle Lovric, and much, much more … Together with a fascinating introduction to the wealth and range of Venetian writing by Jeff Cotton, creator of the Fictional Cities website.

city-lit Paris
Synopsis: city-lit Paris is the perfect city break guide to la vie parisienne. From Joanne Harris, Julian Barnes, Kate Mosse and Irène Némirovsky to Stephen Clarke, Gertrude Stein, Proust and Claude Izner, over seventy extraordinary writers provide the perfect Paris companion.Introduced by Stephen Clarke, bestselling author of A Year in the Merde.

Both are available from all bookshops or direct from www.oxygenbooks.co.uk p&p free.

Hot Brands Cool Places Verdict
Earlier this year we reviewed city-pick New York and we really liked the approach, so we thought we would include two more in the series.
Each book captures the spirit of the city through writers who have visited, or found inspiration in the city.

Describing Venice: ’Merchants sailing from the Adriatic, through the sea-gate of the Lido, would see rising into view before them a vast glittering expanse of domes, cupolas and towers, jewel-greens, purples and golds, with outlines that shimmered and shifted against the vapour that rose up from the Lagoon. Their astonishment would grow on drawing into the quay of San Marco and finding it not a mirage but real.’ Kay MacCauley, The Man Who Was Loved. (2006)

Describing Paris:‘Most people don’t realize that Paris is more beautiful going into the colder months than at any other time. Under a dignified sky of Dior grey, you can see the ‘bones’ of the city, including its noble architecture, through the brittle branches of the tress. Somehow, the city seems finer, grander, more spectacular. The shimmering cognac shade of the Seine under the morning sun (which changes through the day to a luminous petrol blue, and finally, to a silver the colour of evening slippers at twilight),the grand grey of the famous cobblestone avenues and the fine oyster-shell grey of the buildings combine to give the city an almost gentlemanly feel’ Janelle McCulloch, La Vie Parisienne.

Together with city-pick New York these are a wonderful, imaginative creative take on leading cities, that will be a perfect companion to anyone thinking of visiting, or to bring back memories for anyone who has previously visited. If you are looking for a different gift for someone, or inspiration for your own trip in 2012, these are an absolute joy and delight!. Highly Recommended!