Dear Theo: The Autobiography of Vincent Van Gogh [Hardcover]

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Doubleday Books
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385171978
• ISBN-13: 978-0385171977
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,112,049 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Let the reader beware - this is more novel than letters, April 22, 2005

By 

The roofer (Terni, Italy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dear Theo: The Autobiography of Vincent Van Gogh (Mass Market Paperback)

I, like the many reviewers of this book, was enthralled and inspired by this collection of letters when I first read it 25 years ago. I have recommended it to many friends. At the time I would have given it five stars or even more if they were available. Irving Stone writes in his preface "My aim has been to edit the 1670 pages of material down to a swiftly flowing, continuous normal-sized book..." He succeeded but even 25 years ago I was a little disturbed by the complete absence of indications where exactly Mr. Stone had done his cutting, or his editing. Today, in the age of internet we can now do some easy checking. The unabridged letters are on the net and reveal that basically what this Dear Theo is, is another novel written by Irving Stone. There is almost no resemblance to the original letters. The novelist has used his talents and the raw material to create a beautiful saga. Worth reading, but let the reader beware.

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for lovers of art..., October 14, 1999

By 

Robert D. Williams (Reading, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dear Theo: The Autobiography of Vincent Van Gogh (Mass Market Paperback)

"Dear Theo" should be mandatory reading for all students of fine art today, as no modern artist injected a level of passion into their work equal to that of Van Gogh in 1880 through 1890. This volume is a sort of highlight reel of Vincent's comments on his life and art to his beloved brother Theo. I recommend "The Complete Van Gogh" published by Taschen to accompany "Dear Theo", as there are no visual examples of Vincent's art aside from the cover included in this book. No one who appreciates fine art will be sorry to invest in either publication.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening, tragic and inspiring., October 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dear Theo: The Autobiography of Vincent Van Gogh (Mass Market Paperback)

The book provides an excellent cross-section of letters painting a vivid picture of Van Gogh's life. It is not an all-in-one biography, though, in that Van Gogh makes references to work that only curators and art historians can picture. It would have been nice to have a black and white thumbnail of the finished paintings as Van Gogh wrote of them.