Product Description

Chaz Wilmot is a painter born outside his time. He possesses a virtuosic command of the techniques of the old masters. He can paint like Leonardo, Goya, Gainsborough—artists whose works sell for millions—but this style of painting is no longer popular, and he refuses to shape his talent to fit the fashion of the day. So Wilmot makes his living cranking out parodies for ads and magazine covers. A break comes when an art dealer obtains for him a commission to restore a Venetian palace fresco by the eighteenth-century master Tiepolo, for a disreputable Italian businessman. Once there, Wilmot discovers that it is not a restoration but a re-creation, indeed a forgery. At first skeptical of the job, he then throws himself into the creative challenge and does the job brilliantly. No one can tell the modern work from something done more than two hundred years ago.

This feat attracts the attention of Werner Krebs, an art dealer with a dark past and shadier present who becomes Wilmot's friend and patron. Wilmot is suddenly working with a fervor he hasn't felt in years, but his burst of creative activity is accompanied by strange interludes: Without warning, he finds himself reliving moments from his past—not as memories but as if they are happening all over again. Soon, it is no longer his own past he's revisiting; he believes he can travel back to the seventeenth century, where he lived as the Spanish artist Diego Rodríguez de Silva Velázquez, one of the most famous painters in history. Wilmot begins to fantasize that as Velázquez, he has created a masterpiece, a stunning portrait of a nude. When the painting actually turns up, he doesn't know if he painted it or if he imagined the whole thing.

Little by little, Wilmot enters a mirror house of illusions and hallucinations that propels him into a secret world of gangsters, greed, and murder, with his mystery patron at the center of it all, either as the mastermind behind a plot to forge a painting worth hundreds of millions, or as the man who will save Wilmot from obscurity and madness.

In Chaz Wilmot, we meet the rarest breed of literary hero, one for whom the reader feels almost personally responsible. By turns brutally honest and self-deceptive, scornful of the world while yearning to make his mark on it, Wilmot comes astonishingly alive for the reader, and his perilous journey toward the truth becomes our own.

The Forgery of Venus, a blend of erudition, unflagging narrative brio, and emotional depth, brings us inexorably toward the intersection where genius and insanity collide. Miraculously inventive, this book cements Gruber's reputation as one of the most imaginative and gifted writers of our time.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #116419 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-01
• Released on: 2008-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780060874483
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers 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. (Apr.)
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Review
"(An) imaginative novel of psychological suspense." -- Boston Globe

"Gruber is on a roll…[a] terrific art-historical thriller…a perfect place to get lost for a few days. Once again, Gruber mines a popular vein and strikes gold." -- Booklist (starred review)

"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." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Ingenious...The author owns his subject matter and packs it with well-researched details, making this...a successful, suspenseful examination of insanity, forgery and reality." -- Chicago Sun-Times

"Irresistible. Fast, Frightening and, as usual, richly imagined." -- Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

"Michael Gruber has created a first-rate thriller that throws the reader into the art world, past and present." -- Chronicle Herald, Nova Scotia

"Michael Gruber’s new thriller, THE FORGERY OF VENUS, is as layered as a luminous portrait by an old master. A tour-de-force combination of suspense and characterization, as well as a primer on the world of art and art forgery." -- Seattle Times

"Smart and literate. Gruber approaches art with obvious appreciation, and has woven a clever story with plenty of detail." -- Wichita Eagle

"Stunning...utterly unique, and breathtakingly original. It’s one of those novels you want to press upon your friends, fully confident that it will not disappoint. It’s a tour de force performance from Gruber, and a novel worthy of considerable attention." -- Edmonton Journal (Canada)

"This is an art lover’s dream. Mystery and obsession are textured with art history in a plot that explores not only the shifting nature of art, but also the complex nature of identity. -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Review
"Michael Gruber giv(es) us a finale in which the excitement level is high because we don't know who, if anyone, to trust. It's a satisfying conclusion, one that will leave readers debating the morality of Wilmot's final decision." (Tampa Tribune )

"A quick and sharp romp through the art world. Downright delicious." (Seattle Post-Intelligencer )

"Stunning...utterly unique, and breathtakingly original. It's one of those novels you want to press upon your friends, fully confident that it will not disappoint. It's a tour de force performance from Gruber, and a novel worthy of considerable attention." (Edmonton Journal (Canada) )

"Gruber writes with a deft hand, creating a fallen hero who is likeable despite his faults." (Library Journal )

"(An) imaginative novel of psychological suspense." (Boston Globe )

"Gruber is on a roll.[a] terrific art-historical thriller.a perfect place to get lost for a few days. Once again, Gruber mines a popular vein and strikes gold." (Booklist (starred review) )

"Michael Gruber has created a first-rate thriller that throws the reader into the art world, past and present." (Chronicle Herald, Nova Scotia )

"Irresistible. Fast, Frightening and, as usual, richly imagined." (Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review) )

"This is an art lover's dream. Mystery and obsession are textured with art history in a plot that explores not only the shifting nature of art, but also the complex nature of identity. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel )

"Michael Gruber's new thriller, THE FORGERY OF VENUS, is as layered as a luminous portrait by an old master. A tour-de-force combination of suspense and characterization, as well as a primer on the world of art and art forgery." (Seattle Times )

"Michael Gruber's large and growing number of fans won't be disappointed with his sixth novel, a thriller in the art history vein. He's woven a tale within a tale within a tale, all filled with marvelous twists and turns that build suspense and heighten the mystery until the satisfying conclusion." (Fort Worth Star-Telegram )

"This terrific art thriller has history, thieves, insider snippets and a convoluted plot to keep you guessing." (Toronto Globe and Mail )

"Ingenious...The author owns his subject matter and packs it with well-researched details, making this...a successful, suspenseful examination of insanity, forgery and reality." (Chicago Sun-Times )

"Gruber writes thrillers for smart people. This novel is about art and creativity. That sounds lofty, but Gruber gives it humor and heart. The ensuing drama, involving a forgery believed to be the work of Diego Velazquez, keeps you on your toes." (Arizona Republic )

"Tantalizing...exhilarating. Retains the power from the first chapter to keep readers desperate for the suspenseful, addictive fix of every succeeding one. FORGERY OF VENUS is a highly intelligent novel that entertains and educates." (USA Today )

"Smart and literate. Gruber approaches art with obvious appreciation, and has woven a clever story with plenty of detail." (Wichita Eagle )

"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." (Publishers Weekly (starred review) )

"THE FORGERY OF VENUS is the latest in Gruber's series of amazing books. He has applied his deft touch to everything from Shakespeare to shamanism, yielding a finely drawn portrait of an engrossing world every time." (New Orleans Times-Picayune )

Customer Reviews

An absorbing novel of psychological suspense
Talented artist Chaz Wilmot is the son of a slightly less talented but popular artist, and is obsessed with the idea of wasting his talent and thus is doing exactly that. In addition to the paltry sums he brings in with commercial work he is a paid participant in the trial of a completely legal but somewhat psychotropic drug hoping to identify the roots of human creativity. With two ex-wives and three children to support -- one of whom is desperately ill -- he desperately needs money and when he's offered a huge sum to recreate a frescoed ceiling in Venice, the offer is just too good to refuse.

What follows is a finely crafted, intricately woven novel of psychological suspense that I found completely absorbing. While at certain stages I felt that I could have used an art history lesson to get full enjoyment out of the book -- and I'm sure that readers with more knowledge of art than I have will reap an extra dimension -- ultimately that was beside the point and I found myself thoroughly enjoying the ride I'd signed on for.

With the only other Michael Gruber novel I've read being The Book of Air and Shadows, I will definitely be checking out more of this author's backlist.

Amazing sleight of hand.
The subject is perspective, and as some of the other reviewers have pointed out, the fine line that separates perception and reality. In this instance, we witness one man's perceived descent into madness, and engage in both time travel, and alternative reality. Mr. Gruber is a student of the human experience, and his historical, artistic, scientific and political observations are absolutely delightful to read. Keep a particular eye out for his discussion of the ways in which forged art is used for credit and sold by wealthy gangsters. These descriptive passages remind me of the best writing from Ian Fleming on gold and diamond smuggling as an organized criminal enterprise. Mr. Gruber is a major talent and I recommend this book to you without reservation. This book also perhaps serves as a bit of a jest on the author's part: just as the protagonist Wilmot is drawn into the world of art, painting under someone else's name, so did Mr. Gruber ghost write a series of popular novels, before releasing the wonderful thriller, Tropic of Night, under his own name.

Sterling suspense with a twist
When Chaz Wilmot attends a party hosted by another Columbia alum, he meets up with a former college roommate and gives him a CD with an incredible story on it. Before he does this he admits to the old friend that the Velazquez they're looking at and admiring is, in fact a fake. Chaz admits that he painted it; in 1650.

So begins a story that becomes so engrossing that the reader is hard pressed to put the book down. Chaz is an artist that can paint in almost any style required. He can duplicate Leonardo, Van Gogh, or any other highly valued artist. His talent though isn't popular today. The art world has basically passed him by. And this is the root of his problem. Chaz is so full of a talent that the world no longer values. As such, Chaz is relegated to doing advertising copy or art for contemporary magazines. Not being that stable in the first place he is driven to drug use and he is, at the beginning The Forgery of Venus, spiraling down to a life he wasn't meant to live.

Enter another college roommate, a successful research MD studying the roots of creativity. Chaz is asked to participate in a clinical study and he agrees. What begins as a benign medical study soon turns into trips into the past that further stretch Chaz' grip on reality. Are they real or imagined? Add to this the chance to go to Italy and recreate a damaged fresco and you have quite a story.

Michael Gruber is a superb writer that spins stories that grab the reader. His reputation as a spinner of tales is well deserved. Coming on the heels of The Book of Air and Shadows, the Forgery of Venus is sure to add to Gruber's reputation.

Peace.