Customer Reviews

Harmony in Flesh and Black

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4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
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A wonderful intoduction to the dark side of art dealing. I was absorbed by the mystery, and by the author's obvious knowledge of the art and the art world. A real page turner

The Publisher's Weekly review above gives you the jist of the plot of Harmony in Flesh and Black, and hints at the strange prose. I won't bother with further plot detail, but you should be aware of just how weird this prose it. Here's an example. Our hero has just walked in to a copy store:

"Two seedy academics of the male persuasion, burning their own midnight oil, were already waiting, and Fred was behind them. Each was burdened with extraordinary complexity in his approach to the copying experience."

To me this is the kind of writing that even a vanity press should turn down. Male persuasion? Complexity in getting a document copied? I love novels that deal with art, but struggling through this creative writing class reject was a teeth grinding experience. The sort of book that once you put it down you have a hard time picking it up again. My copy of the book was a Phoenix library discard. It was in pristine condition, and never had been checked out. I'm impressed by the sophistication of the citizens of Phoenix.

Art with its sublime beauty should inspire people to be better. Paradoxically, art also attracts those who are obsessively interested in control and others who want money and power. The art itself often suffers amid the cross-currents that those who are drawn to art bring.

Harmony in Flesh and Black is excellent at exposing the darker side of human nature as expressed in the art world (although not among artists themselves). If the novel had focused solely on that message, I would have liked the book better. There's an intriguing story line about appreciating hidden beauties that can best be revealed through research and well-aimed speculation.

But the book becomes mucked up with a very sleazy fellow who never saw a fast buck that he didn't like. I found myself feeling dirty from having read about this character. I admire writing that can make me have such a strong reaction . . . but I don't have to be attracted to that kind of writing.

The book has a crime and a mystery to solve, but I felt that the mystery element detracted from rather than added to the book. The art mystery and maneuvering would have been enough for me.