[.ca] The Honest Courtesan: Veronica Franco, Citizen and ... (ISBN 0226728129)

Rosenthal tells a fantastic story in text book fashion:
Rosenthal's "The Honest Courtesan" tells the story of Veronica Franco, a 1500's courtesan (a high society prostitute) and poet. Franco's life is somewhat represented in the current movie "Dangerous Beauty". Franco was one of the first independant women of this time and wrote of women's equility. Unfortunatly, Franco's amazing story is told in a text book fashion. Rosenthal's writing is cold and uninteresting and reads like a doctoral dissertation. The subject matter is wonderful, but I would recommend Rosenthal's "Veronica Franco, Poems and Selected Letters". In this, Rosenthals writing the same, there is just less of it. The introduction briefly tells of Franco's life, and Franco's poetry brings her story to the reader.

One smart cookie, that Veronica:
Veronica Franco was a scholar, a skillful poet, a prostitute--and one of the most fascinating characters to emerge from Renaissance Venice. Given the current climate--in which a dim-faced bimbo can bring down a president--this book is refreshing in that it tells how Franco used sex to further the political and economic causes of her beloved home, Venice. Though the author wrote this as an academic biography, the character, personality, and wit of Franco comes through. The whole story is set in the lushly atmospheric and decadent days when Venice was on the verge of losing its dominance as an empire. Highly recommended, as is the volume of Franco's poetry just released by the University of Chicago Press.

Excellent, but a little slow:
I greatly enjoyed this book, but I found that wading through 16th century Venetian dialect was difficult. If you are looking for an entertaining story biography, look elsewhere, but if you want a dissertation-style biography, you will enjoy this, as I did.

Excellent portrait of a lady:
Veronica Franco was a magnificent woman, and I was ecstatic to find this book after seeing the film based on her life, 'Dangerous Beauty'. Sometimes this biography is slow and verbose, but exciting nonetheless to learn all about this fascinating woman. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about 16th century Venice, women, courtesans, or someone who just wants to broaden their views.