Friday, November 7, 2008

"If you are false to yourself, I think, other people find it easier to be false to you." from The Forgery of Venus by Michael Gruber

from Publisher's Weekly...Starred Review. Bestseller Gruber (The Book of Air and Shadows) probes the boundaries between sanity and madness in his outstanding sixth novel. Talented Chaz Wilmot, who makes a modest living as a commercial artist in New York City, can't say no when Mark Slade, his former Columbia roommate who now owns a downtown gallery, offers him $150,000 to fix a ruined Tiepolo ceiling in a Venetian palazzo (the ceiling had essentially collapsed, so it wasn't a restoration job exactly but more like a reproducing job). Once abroad, Wilmot gets sucked into an increasingly bizarre world where his own identity is confused and the art he produces may be a forgery but is genuinely magnificent. Is Wilmot crazy or is he being manipulated in a grandiose scheme linked to unrecovered art stolen by the Nazis? Gruber writes passionately and knowledgeably about art and its history—and he writes brilliantly about the shadowy lines that blur reality and unreality. Fans of intelligent, literate thrillers will be well rewarded.

My Take: This was a fascinating read. The author expertly draws you into the story and doesn't let go. I highly recommend it.

Has any one read Gruber's bestseller The Book of Air and Shadows?

2 comments:

  1. This sounds like a very interesting book.

    How is Nano going. A 25,000-word goal is ambitious, but great!

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  2. Thanks for asking about NANO. I've been dealing with medical issues that won't be resolved until the 20th and then recovery so I'm afraid NANO is on the back burner. But at least it's allowing me to catch up on some reading.

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