The "ultimate" book about Impressionist Art

"The Ultimate Trophy" tells the fascinating story how the Impressionist art movement started what we know as the modern art "industry". Locked out from the French Academy Impressionist artists organized their own exhibitions. Their art was affordable so "normal" people could buy and collect it.

Impressionist art was actually "marketed" to the buying public. This produced a "new phenomenom, the powerful dealer, who interpreted and marketed the new art to the public, and simultaneously employed the artists he was promoting by guaranteeing to buy their work."

The American artist, Mary Cassatt, was living and painting in Paris so she introduced her family and other wealthy Americans to the new Impressionist Art. Hook credits her with convincing many American collectors to buy art from her fellow painters. Quickly America became a huge market for the art French collectors were not interested in buying.

I enjoyed the chapters describing how different countries including America, England and Germany either embraced or rejected Impressionist art based on their historic relationship with France.

Hook actually credits the Impressionists with "softening up" the public for future modern trends that were to come. Athough Monet continued to paint water lilies through it all.

I like his short description of what defined Impressionism and what the public thought was wrong with it, "the colours used were strident and garish; there was a lack of finish: and the subject matter was banal."

Philip Hook is a wonderful writer. His language is clear and very readable. He mixes his own personal experiences as an art dealer with history to make for an interesting story.

more to come...

"Big, funny, flamboyantly imaginative...as warmhearted as it is unpredicatable"

I think Middlesex is the best novel I have read in years. I loved the characters. I cared about them. The story was interesting and unpredictable.

Here's the English major speaking out. Eugenides beautifully combines three huge themes, Greek Mythology, modern American immigration and sexual identity. That's a big order.

The fact that two of our "main characters" flee from Greece to America to escape war in their country their lives are similar to a classic myth storyline. It takes on a grandness. It's this huge sad tale but it's also happening to a bother and sistern named Lefty and Desdemona. How many Greek gods are named Lefty? There's always a humorous twist.

Eugenides tells a story which could have been a huge Greek tradegy but instead the story curves and bends so it is more comedy. Again and again he creates situations which should have been devestating to his characters but they pull through in their own "wacky" way.

He describes the Detroit race riots where neighborhoods became war zones. Milton lives for days in his Zebra Room restaurant to protect his property, gun in hand and ready to use it. After several days of not knowing what is happening to her father his daughther, Calliope, hops on her bike to save him. Inspired by all the Hercules action hero movies she was encouraged to watch, this action made the most sense.

Father and daughter are reunited. The restaurant is burned down in the riot. But...

"Shameful as it is to say, the riots were the best thing that ever happened to us. Overnight we went from being a family desperately trying to stay in the middle class to one with hopes of sneaking into the upper, or at least the upper-middle."

The family had bought 4 fire insurance policies on the restaurant. Two paid out. Now they had the money to move into a better neighborhood, Grosse Point. And buy their dream home "Middlesex". You see this book really isn't about sexual identity, it's just the name of this strange house in Grosse Point. Just kidding!

I'm finding it really hard to write about this book because every time I go back to read another page I find another little gem or plot twist I forgot.

I still really hate the cover design!


More later...

It's the blue convertible, stupid!

Months later... I think most readers loved Nancy Drew and her books because she owned a blue convertible and could drive herself any where she wanted. I also liked the fact that in the original stories she is always described as a "skillful driver".

She was autonomous. Did she ever go to school? She kept her own schedule, aside from her burden of "running the house" which amounted to telling Hannah Gruen what to do and cook. She could drive anywhere. Her father, Carson Drew, never said "where have you been, you're late, you're grounded". He doesn't seem at all disturbed that she's running around the county chasing armed burglars and getting locked in closets, as long as she's home for dinner. What planet is he from?

Everyone would like to be Nancy Drew. In addition to owning the best car she seems to be able to do everything. Drive a motor boat, knows first aid, is an excellent badminton player and is always the most popular girl in the crowd !

"Girls, it's Nancy Drew!" she exclaimed enthusiastically. "Now the fun will start!".

As we move ahead to read books about tycoons and hermaphrodites I'll just wrap it up by commenting on Harriet Stratemeyer's questionable behavior. Nancy Drew is a character with many virtues, I find it disturbing that Stratemeyer "lied" about who actually wrote the first books. Here she helps create and profit from this noble character, Nancy Drew, but I do not believe she acted nobly toward the oringinal writer, Mildred Wirt Benson. By not sharing the credit I think she belittled her own reputation. Nancy Drew would not have approved!