Venice: Serenissima Homosexual Pleasure

Venice was a homosexual crossroads, where no boy-lovers, or few, elected residence on the islands, and there were no, or few, island lads who made themselves available, as there were on Capri, Ischia or at Taormina on Sicily. Yet those who cast anchor in the Lagoon were not disappointed, as the gondoliers soon learned that for much less effort than rowing, a particular manner of movement called sculling, they could top off their wages and better provide for their families simply by reading the all-too evident gleam in a passenger's eye, and quickly come to an agreement on the terms. Love in the Serenissima had always been omnisexual, as it was throughout all of Italy from the time when the Trojan Aeneas founded the city between the seven hills, accompanied by his lover Pallas. This book covers an immense span of time and numerous individuals, all of whose lives are fully revealed and fully illustrated. There is no fact, no anecdote worth the recounting that is not within these pages. From Cesare Borgia to Casanova, from Cole Porter to Truman Capote and Canadian Venice Film Festival director Xavier Dolan, the reader will discover the homosexual subculture that made the wealth, and especially the reputation, of Venice, as did its ships filled with slaves, spices, silks and sapphires.