Shaykitteh's World of Books

The Politics of Washing is the journey of a family (husband, wife, and four children) who live in Venice for a year. In many ways, Venice is a world apart from anywhere else - where else can you find yourself barricaded inside your house using a high tide, or walking through water on a normal day to get your mail? This is where beaches hide under the water, tourists are an unwanted nuisance, and you buy your groceries on a daily basis since you can only purchase as much as you can carry.

Equal parts daily life and history, this book gives us a glance "backstage" at the real Venice... not just what the tourists want or so. In a city where the tourists outnumber the residents, it becomes more and more difficult to find what is "real" or "authentic" here. As someone who wanted to visit Venice someday, I actually felt disappointed to learn how much the residents dislike tourism. Of course, the hotels and big businesses want the tourists, but apparently the residents feel that tourism is killing the city itself, and that sentiment was repeated over and over throughout the story. While I was intrigued by the daily life portrayed in this book, the fact that I can't go see it without making myself an unwanted burden really took the enjoyment out of this book. The fact that the book itself was well-written doesn't make up for the overall negativity.