Staff Recommendation - The Forgery of Venus

The Forgery of Venus

by Michael Gruber

In his latest book, Gruber examines themes of art's creation and its imitation, the nature of time, and the very essence of what it means to know and remember. The Forgery of Venus tells the story of Chaz Wilmot, a painter and a reluctant fixture on the New York art scene. Chaz is blessed with phenomenal artistic talent, but is thwarted in his career by his inability to paint for the buying public. Instead of selling his work for big money in upscale Manhattan galleries, he makes a meager living painting in the style of other famous artists, some living, some long dead, for magazines and other publications. Chaz has two ex-wives to support, and several children as well, one of whom has a life-threatening illness. His life, and theirs, would be infintely easier if he could just bring himself to sell his original paintings to the art-collecting crowd that he despises. Then Chaz hears fro a couple of old college friends, one a doctor conducting research on a creativity-enhancing chemical, and one an artists' agent offering him a lucrative fresco restoration job in Italy. Never one to turn down free drugs or travel, and chronically short of cash, Chaz says yes to both and the plot thickens considerably. To provide too much detail would be to lessen the impact of an intricately written and superbly imagined tale. The book is worth reading simply for Gruber's descriptions of world-famous paintings, particularly those of Diego Velazquez, who figures prominently in the story. Gruber is a virtuoso when it comes to jumping between time periods, and meshing the past with the present. Art lovers, history buffs and fans of time-travel stories will all find something magical in this book-a real masterpiece of fiction writing. -- recommended by Lisa V. - Bennett Martin Public Library/Reference

[ official Forgery of Venus / Michael Gruber web site ]

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