Vittorio, the Vampire

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Tired of the same old vampires? Check out Anne Rice's new race of undead bloodsuckers, independent of the Lestat series. Her alterna-vamp books began with Pandora, but the second of her New Tales of the Vampires, Vittorio, is truly a new beginning--a more controlled story and probably the best of her last half-dozen books.

Rice has called Vittorio her vampire version of Romeo and Juliet. The hunky Vittorio is sweet 16 and "incalculably rich" in 15th-century Italy, the epoch of the Medicis and Vittorio's favorite painter, madly passionate Filippo Lippi. Florence is to Vittorio what New Orleans is to Interview with the Vampire.

One night, Vittorio's family is butchered by vampires. The gorgeous Ursula spares Vittorio to make him her reluctant undying sweetheart. Ursula's ravishings of Vittorio recall the erotica Rice wrote under her own name and the pen names Anne Rampling and A.N. Roquelaure.

Vittorio flees to the creepy town of Santa Maddalana, which has made a pact to sacrifice its young to Lord Florian's vampire horde. Vittorio is bent on revenge as he invades the eerie Court of the Ruby Grail (i.e. blood), as angry with the child-sacrificing humans as he is with Florian's fang gangsters. Torn between lust, murderous rage, and vampire thirst, Vittorio is one interestingly troubled soul.

Rice urges readers to enter Vittorio's world by reading the sources she embroiders, Fra Filippo Lippi and Public Life in Renaissance Florence, and to get a feel for the scary communion Vittorio sees in the Court of the Ruby Grail by listening to All Souls' Vespers. --Tim Appelo

Book Description

Educated in the Florence of Cosimo de' Medici, trained in knighthood at his father's mountaintop castle, Vittorio inhabits a world of courtly splendor and country pleasures—a world suddenly threatened when his entire family is confronted by an unholy power.

In the midst of this upheaval, Vittorio is seduced by the beautiful and sinister vampire Ursula—setting in motion a chilling chain of events that will mark his life for eternity. Against a backdrop of the wonders—both sacred and profane—and the beauty and ferocity of Renaissance Italy, Anne Rice creates a passionate and tragic legend of doomed young love and lost innocence.

Customer Reviews:

Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03

Very average. I think I have mostly forgotten what happens, so that is about the definition of average, I think. A minor tale about a minor character at the minor end of a major series. Not too likely to be of any particular note, in that case, in general. It is certainly not the case, here.

A decent read.......2007-08-20

Though not as exciting or character driven as her other Vampires, Vittorio was still a fun read. It is short and does not lack for action or beautiful writing. I have only read it once, a long while ago, but plan to re-read it as I have done to numerous Anne Rice novels. I would recommend this to any fan. It can even be read as a stand alone even if you have never picked up a Vampire Chronicle.

Exciting. .......2007-05-10

Although I still can't passed Queen of the Damned, Vittorio was a nice refreshner.

lackluster at best.......2007-04-07

Sorry folks! I owned this novel for a couple of years before reading. As a big fan of Anne Rice, particularly her Vampire Chronicles, I was disappointed in both Vittorio and Pandora. Both of these books felt more like they were written for Ms. Rice's fans and that she had lost her love of her Vamps..I give this tepid followup a mediocre review at best. Gone was my lust for losing myself in one of the usually most alluring authors I've read. Although still laced with beautiful descriptions, I couldn't fall into this one.

My best book ever.......2007-03-10

This book is about demonds destroying a mans home and family. His name is vittorio he was turned into a vampire and seeks revenge for his home and his family.

I liked this book because it was very good it had very good parts.

I realy liked this book but it was realy long so it was not the interesting at some parts. Overall this book was realy good and i recomend this book because its scary and if u like scary books then this book is for you.

New Tales of the Vampires: includes Pandora and Vittorio the Vampire (New Tales of the Vampires)

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New yet old

New Tales of the Vampires: includes Pandora and Vittorio the Vampire (New Tales of the Vampires)
Anne Rice
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0345476867
Release Date: 2004-09-28

Customer Reviews:

New yet old.......2004-12-18

Anne Rice started off with the tales of Louis and Lestat, but eventually branched out to include the "New Tales of the Vampires," stories about minor vampires who have their own stories to tell. Sadly, while "Pandora" is a decent vampire tale, "Vittorio" is an unfortunate stumble.

"Pandora" is given a journal to tell her story in -- and it's a wild tale. Reluctantly telling her story to new vampire David Talbot (a "chronicler" of vampire tales), Pandora describes her early life: a pampered Roman girl, who fled the destruction of her family. In Antioch she is saved by the ancient vampire Marius, who turns her into a vampire.

"Vittorio" is a heretofore unknown vampire: a beautiful, wealthy teenager living in Renaissance Italy, the middle of art and beauty in the 15th century. But when Vittorio's family is murdered by vampires, he alone is spared to become one of the undead, and the lover of beautiful vamp (in more than one sense) Ursula. But he tears away from her, and finds that vampires are not the only ones who can create horrors...

Anne Rice's more recent works suffer in comparison to her early Vampire Chronicles, and the "New Tales of the Vampires" fall victim to that. Taken alone, they're not half bad. "Pandora" is undoubtedly the stronger tale, with its more intelligent storyline and lesser focus on angst and religion (religion in books can be a good thing, but Rice smothers "Vittorio" in it). And at the end of the day, the books feel... like filler, something to hold over the fans.

Her writing is unquestionably beautiful -- Rice's prose is as rich and deep as fine velvet. And "Pandora" moves along at a slow but steady clip, well-written and apparently well-thought out; the only problem is that Rice could have expanded the book into a sprawling horror/historical drama... and didn't. "Vittorio" makes up for its lack of plot by being almost absurdly overwrought at times.

Anne Rice's books tend to focus more on men than on women, which makes Pandora all the more appealing -- she's strong, witty and intelligent. That also makes Vittorio all the more wimpy. Old characters like Marius pop up in "Pandora," making welcome appearances. But "Vittorio" has... nobody we already know. It's not a flaw in itself, but it may be a bit disorienting for fans.

"The New Tales of the Vampires" are not the best that Anne Rice has written, and far from the worst. The prettily written "Pandora" and overworked "Vittorio" are an interesting diversion, but they still feel like filler.

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Vittorio The Vampire

Manufacturer: Alfred A. Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000FSR85C

6 Anne Rice Novels, Hardcovers - Vittorio the Vampire, Merrick, Blood and Gold, Blackwood Farm, Blood Canticle, Christ The Lord

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6 Anne Rice Novels, Hardcovers - Vittorio the Vampire, Merrick, Blood and Gold, Blackwood Farm, Blood Canticle, Christ The Lord
Anne Rice
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UVQU4E

Product Description

Title: 6 Anne Rice Novels, Hardcovers - Vittorio the Vampire, Merrick, Blood and Gold, Blackwood Farm, Blood Canticle, Christ The Lord Binding: Hardcover Publication date: 1999-2005

New Tales of the Vampires: Pandora & Vittorio the Vampire (Set of 2)

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New Tales of the Vampires: Pandora & Vittorio the Vampire (Set of 2)
Anne Rice
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000O5XG0M

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Vittorio le vampire
Anne Rice
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

All French Books | French | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 2266108409

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Vittorio the Vampire
Anne Rice
Manufacturer: KNOPF, ALFRED A
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000WDPLQS

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Vittorio the Vampire
Anne Rice
Manufacturer: Chatto & Windus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 070116736X

Vittorio the Vampire (The Signed First Edition Society)

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Vittorio the Vampire (The Signed First Edition Society)

Manufacturer: The Franklin Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Leather Bound
ASIN: B000IBTRIW

Product Description

Red full leather. All edge gilt; raised spine bands separating gilt compartments; gilt decoration and tooling to boards.

Vittorio The Vampire [Unabridged] (New Tales of The Vampires)

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Vittorio The Vampire [Unabridged] (New Tales of The Vampires)
Anne Rice
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
ASIN: B000KER45U

Book Description

Edited and designed by Daniel Clowes, and co-written by Clowes and director Terry Zwigoff, The Ghost World Screenplay is more of a scrapbook of the making of the film than simply a published screenplay. Of course, the 125-page screenplay is included, and is presented as an exact fascimile of the original script. This is the original script as written before filming, and as such includes several scenes and dialogue (over 30 pages of material!) not included in the final cut.

The script is wrapped around a beautiful original cover by Clowes, as well as a new comic strip on the inside front cover, featuring Ghost World's Enid and Rebecca. Also included is a lengthy color section designed by Clowes and featuring never-before-seen photos and other unique ephemera from the making of the film, including illustrations created for the film's sets by Clowes, and illustrations from Enid's sketchbook in the film, created by Sophie Crumb (daughter of cartoonist R. Crumb).

Along with the release of both the Ghost World film from MGM/UA, and the re-release of Clowes' Ghost World graphic novel from Fantagraphics, The Ghost World Screenplay is sure to be a must-have for the legion of devoted fans who have made Clowes the best-selling alternative comic book artist in the world. Also, this special screenplay edition is presented in the same size as the graphic novel, making it a perfect bookshelf companion for one of the best-selling and most critically-acclaimed graphic novels of all-time.

Customer Reviews:

A Paradigm of Great Screenwriting.......2004-03-05

Ghost World is one of those great movies reliant on its screenplay. While director Terry Zwigoff certainly made his 2001 film visually fresh and inventive, the film's energy and strength came from the incredible dialogue, well-written characters, and pop culture observation- all derived from Zwigoff's script (co-written with Daniel Clowes and adapted from Clowes' graphic novel).

The screenplay begins with opening letters from its authors, both of which contain hilarious and touching anecdotes on the screenwriting process. Both affirm the difficulty of writing such a screenplay. There is also a few pages of candid polaroids of characters (my favorite photo is of Teri Garr's hilariously gauche creation, Maxine). There is also a very funny new comic strip involving main characters Enid and Rebecca written especially for the screenplay book. Between its attractive front cover and enlightening packaging, this is a very handsome book.

The screenplay itself is brilliant, and I certainly was thrilled when Zwigoff and Clowes were nominated for the 2001 best screenplay Oscar. It has a taut three-act structure, funny one liners, and memorable interesting characters: teen outcasts: Enid, Rebecca (played by Thora Birch and Scarlet Johansson in the movie); adult outcast: Seymour (Steve Buscemi in the movie); iconoclastic hick: Doug; flakey art teacher: Roberta (Illeana Douglas); clueless Dad (Bob Balaban). The screenplay is very literate and is a pleasure to read.

My favorite line is when Rebecca says at a particularly lame high school graduation party, "This is so bad it's almost good..." to which Enid responds, "This is so bad it's gone past good and back to bad again."

Great movie, great screenplay.......2001-10-25

I have recently started reading screenplays, and this was given as a gift after having seen Ghost World four times. This is an excellent movie and I recommend it to most anyone.

The screenplay itself is just a screenplay, but a well written one. There are a few scenes that were either cut or shortened, and I really enjoyed them. But the best part of the book was all the extras, like introductions by Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff. Plus there were a lot of pictures, and all the scene notes at the end were very interesting.

Book Description

For the past three decades, Hollywood has developed a quiet obsession with translating Stephen King's fiction into film. Of the many major films that have been made of his novels and stories, not one has lost money. Part of this may be explained in terms of King's own popularity in American culture; he has been, after all, a bestselling writer since the late 1970s. But more inter-est-ing is what this cinematic fascination reveals about postmodern American culture. In the first coherent overview of Hollywood's major cinematic interpretations of Stephen King, Tony Magistrale examines the various thematic, narrative, and character inter-connections that highlight the relationships among his films. Opening with a revealing interview of Stephen King, the book takes us through chapters that explore such popular films as Stand By Me, Misery, The Shining, The Green Mile, and The Shaw-shank Redemption, among others.

Customer Reviews:

Hollywood's Stephen King.......2007-03-19

Tony Magistrale brings up some very good points throughout the book that I think most Stephen King Fans will agree on. I have enjoyed the book immensely.

Overanalyzing Stephen King.......2005-10-22

In Hollywood's Stephen King, author Magistrale is best when talking about how the movies based on King's works differ from the works themselves. When he evaluates movies that are very close to the stories as written, he tends to get bogged down in literary criticism, which is not what this book is supposed to be about.

The interview with King at the beginning of Hollywood's Stephen King is one of the best parts of this book. In it, you get the impression that King writes his stories on an emotional level, aiming to grab the reader and shake him silly. As a college graduate and former English teacher, he can probably sling the lit crit with the best of them, but he seems to be aiming primarily for entertainment rather than edification.

To analyze King's stories may be to find things in them that aren't really there. In fact, Magistrale delves into psychoanalysis of King from time to time, talking about what makes him tick. This type of speculation leads nowhere.

On the other hand, Magistrale's discussions of the films and how different directors and screenwriters have adapted them is quite interesting. He even takes on Carol Clover and her book, Men, Women, and Chainsaws. Although I agree with Clover in this case, Magistrale makes a good case for his argument.

In this book, Magistrale wisely limits himself to examining about twenty films and series based on King's novels, novellas, and short stories. He notes that the best adaptations have been on his shorter works, which allow a director to add to the story rather than be forced to subtract. Carrie, Misery, The Shawshank Redemption were all short stories or novellas rather than full-length novels.

It isn't necessary to have seen many of these movies or to have read much King at all to enjoy the commentary in this book. In fact, I didn't even realize that The Shawshank Redemption was based on a King story until I read this book. For a book based on a college course, this short volume is surprisingly readable and entertaining.

very good with a few flaws.......2004-10-31

This is a very good book that serves as a valuable addition to the canon of works exploring the phenomenon that is Stephen King. I would heartily recommend it to people who are King fans and who also like to read critical analysis of his stories.

This book focuses on the films that have resulted from King novels and stories. Magistrale's best readings here are of Kubrick's "The Shining" and Darabont's "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile," but he has something interesting to say about pretty much every movie he covers (which is not every single King film, unfortunately).

There are a few places where the book falls down a bit, though. For example, Magistrale seems to be convinced that the only version of Tobe Hooper's "Salem's Lot" that is commerically available is the truncated version released to theaters overseas. In fact, his entire criticsm is based on that edition. I've owned the complete four-hour version (three hours, actually, since the commericals aren't included) on DVD for several years. It's readily available from any online mercant, and has been for a long time now. How that simple fact managed to slip by Magistrale is a mystery to me, but it is the sort of ridiculous error that makes me wonder how many other things he might have gotten wrong.

Also, for a book that, I think, tries to be a critical overview of Stephen King movies, there are far too many digressions to discuss how things were done in the novel on which the respective movie was based. If one of Magistrale's points is that the King film canon is deserving of serious critical attention, then it is a disservice to constantly return to a discussion of how the novels are different.

Still, this is one of the better books of criticism I've read on the subject of Stephen King. I recommend it.

Red Blooded Criticism.......2004-10-11

Magistrale is one of those academics who has made a whole career writing about the work of a living author. It must make the author awfully uneasy thinking of all those people whose living literally depends on the products of one's brain. King must respect him, however, because he gives him his time and an awfully frank interview which opens up the book on a happy note. King has been treated both well and badly by Hollywood, and he must know that some of this bad treatment is his own fault. Though some fans think otherwise, people who like movies know that when King is in charge of adapting his own work (or even worse, writing originals for the screen) the results are almost always dire. Can't figure it out, how a man whose writing is so perfectly "cinematic," whatever that means, can have so literal and unimaginative a film sense. Oh well, at least we have the novels on the one hand and Rob Reiner, Brain De Palma, Stanley Kubrick and Frank Darabont (among others) to re-imagine King's work and make it come alive on the big screen. Save us from the Mick Garrises of the world!

Magistrale manages to make sense of some of the complexities of the film universe, and he can explain in high toned English why a film like CARRIE might be good and THE MANGLER unredeemably mediocre. I like the way he arranged the films into different categories, so there is a body of proto-feminist films, like DOLORES CLAIBORNE, and then a body of "high-tech gone awry" films like CHRISTINE and the beyond belief bad MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE. Magistrale is a highly intelligent man and his writing is not pretentious at all. He is the type of writer you'd like to know as a friend.

good read.......2004-02-05

At first glance I thought this might be tiresome because it is literary/cinema criticism and I was immediately transported back to a college English class. Surprise, I couldn't put it down! Stephen King is a genius. Tony Magistrael has made a career of studying horror with an emphasis on Stephen King's writings and film adaptations of his work. You can't help but appreciate King's craftsmanship and the volume and variety of his work. Magistrael's enthusiasm makes me think reading books I've avoided because I thought they would scare the crap out of me, might really be fun after all. I'm buying Misery today. And then, I'll watch the movie.

The Edge, Long Lean and Lethal, Haunted, Picture Me Dead, Dead on the Dance Floor, The Presence, Ghost Walk, Killing Kelly, The Island, The Vision (Set of 10 Romantic Suspense Novels by Heather Graham)

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The Edge, Long Lean and Lethal, Haunted, Picture Me Dead, Dead on the Dance Floor, The Presence, Ghost Walk, Killing Kelly, The Island, The Vision (Set of 10 Romantic Suspense Novels by Heather Graham)
Heather Graham , Sharon Sala , and Carla Neggers
Manufacturer: Mira
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000VDZ3U8

The Ghost Dance Insurrection: A Jazzman Novel

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The Ghost Dance Insurrection: A Jazzman Novel
Jack Random
Manufacturer: Dry Bones Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1883938813

Book Description

The end of the second millennium brings disaster to the world, with tornadoes, flooding, and earthquakes occurring on an unprecedented scale. To the spiritual eye, these events are signs of revolutionary change to come. People of all tribes return to the old ways and call upon their elders for guidance. The elders proclaim the prophecy of the Ghost Dance is at hand.

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A song of grief
A lovely and haunting pomo classic.

Ghost Dance: A Play of Voices : A Novel
Carole Maso
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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Customer Reviews:

A song of grief.......2001-11-26

Vanessa is a young woman drifting through her memories and imagination, while struggling to come to terms with her mother's death. Her mother was a famous poet whose private spiral into madness held the family together as it forced each person into her/his own separate world. After her mother's tragic death, Vanessa's often-silent father disappears and her brother shifts from place to place, sending cryptic postcards to his sister. Even Vanessa's mother's lover Sabine seems unable to embrace her own grief. Through it all, Vanessa struggles to resurface through the pain, through the family dysfunctions, through the wavering and tenuous hold on reality. She struggles to come back to living and not plummet into madness like her mother. Carole Maso's amazing and brilliantly woven story plumbs the depths of grief in a style totally her own. Swinging from reality to memory to imagination, Maso charts Vanessa's mental state as she climbs back to living. I was often reminded of Virginia Woolf's works while reading, and found myself wondering about possible connections. "Ghost Dance" is truly a book to behold.

A lovely and haunting pomo classic........1999-06-29

I first read this book in the eighties and was literally haunted by it. After reading Defiance this winter, I went back and reread it--and wasn't disappointed. It's all here--the cold war, the world's fair, the theme of madness and redemption, the wonderfully cadenced sentence--and Maso reinvents the orphan's search for the mother. She does for mothers and daughters what (too) many male authors have done with the lost father/lost son.

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Ghost Dance a Novel
Carole maso
Manufacturer: Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000PHQLCY

Young Wild West stopping a ghost dance, or, The charge of the gallant 6th (Wild West weekly)

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Young Wild West stopping a ghost dance, or, The charge of the gallant 6th (Wild West weekly)
Old scout
Manufacturer: Westbury
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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