The Silent Gondoliers (ISBN 0-345-44263-6) is a 1983 novel by William Goldman, written under the pseudonym of "S. Morgenstern". The novel purports to explain why the gondoliers of Venice no longer sing, through the story of the protagonist Luigi. Chapters I and II build up further mythology behind the name Morgenstern and the backstory of Gondolierian history, and the tale of Luigi actually starts in Chapter III. It was released in hardcover in 1983, and a trade paperback version came out from Del Rey in 2001. Paul Giovanopoulos provided 20 pen-and-ink illustrations for the story. Source: Wikipedia (en)