"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,...
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Sep 18, 2008
Armand
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Jul 12, 2008
Nadine
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Feb 05, 2009
Although critics still make the inevitable and easy comparisons to Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, any time a book comes out in the burgeoning genre of the "literary thriller," Gruber—so critics might argue with good cause—delivers a more compelling (or, at the least, a more imaginative) story. With The Forgery of Venus, Gruber hits his stride, combining psychological intrigue with an expert's knowledge of art and art history (Gruber's fascination with the subject dates back to his ea
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Jul 07, 2008
Michelle
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Oh how I love Michael Gruber.
Here's a man who never writes the same book twice. The first of his I read was The Witch's Boy, a modern fairy tale.
Then I read Tropic of Night, which has mainly to do with voodoo in Miami (I'm leaving out a lot of important details, but it was excellent).
And then I moved on to The Book of Air and Shadows, which is a "literary thriller," meaning that it's a thriller that centers around books, one of my very favorite genr More...
Here's a man who never writes the same book twice. The first of his I read was The Witch's Boy, a modern fairy tale.
Then I read Tropic of Night, which has mainly to do with voodoo in Miami (I'm leaving out a lot of important details, but it was excellent).
And then I moved on to The Book of Air and Shadows, which is a "literary thriller," meaning that it's a thriller that centers around books, one of my very favorite genr More...
Feb 29, 2008
Eileen
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I cannot even describe how much I love art forgery. I don't know why. I don't know what it is, but art forgery fascinates me. Which is weird because unoriginality, copycatting, clones of society, all that crap pisses me off. But there's just something about...the lengths people go to, the imitation of something so great that someone would rather try to recreate it than even bother to attempt to create something better of their own, the...homage of it. It just excites my emotions. Anyway! This bo
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Jan 26, 2009
Rosie
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I really like the way Gruber writes. I like his use of language, his rhythms, his pacing, his words. His characters live, too. Here, they're similar to the characters in his first book, but that's fine, since they're fun. In this book, he has some really lovely moments where character changes occurr subtly and effectively. He writes about art-related topics with sensitivity. His endings are a little over the top for me...his writing is good enough that he doesn't need all the fuss at the end. Bu
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Apr 10, 2011
Lisa
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An induced tale that follows an artist as he forges a great work of art, time travels into the life of a great master, hallucinates an entirely different life, or spirals directly into madness.
Chaz has spent most of his life comparing himself to artists; often his father, but other times the great masters that his work so often seems to imitate. After taking an experimental drug, he finds himself painting as Velazquez, living the life of a long dead painter and bringing his style an More...
Chaz has spent most of his life comparing himself to artists; often his father, but other times the great masters that his work so often seems to imitate. After taking an experimental drug, he finds himself painting as Velazquez, living the life of a long dead painter and bringing his style an More...
Dec 31, 2010
I just wanted a compelling story, but I got halfway through this one and had to give up. When the mental effort required of a story is greater than the pleasure extracted from reading it, then I have to throw in the towel.
Was the plot original? Yes. Was the main character real, likable, human? Yes. Did you care about the characters? Yes again, but... well, the stories-within-stories-within-stories required a lot of effort and ultimately became a bit wearing. I really just wanted to kn More...
Was the plot original? Yes. Was the main character real, likable, human? Yes. Did you care about the characters? Yes again, but... well, the stories-within-stories-within-stories required a lot of effort and ultimately became a bit wearing. I really just wanted to kn More...
Jul 17, 2010
I really like Michael Gruber‘s literate thrillers, which are often spiced with a touch of the supernatural. While not his best, Forgery of Venus has plenty to offer. Chaz Wilmot is a supremely gifted painter, who, repelled by the easy success of his father, described as a latter day Norman Rockwell, has turned his back on the lucrative aspects of the art biz, resulting in poverty and damaged personal relationships. His ex owns a gallery, for instance, and can’t understand why he won’t cash in. N
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Jun 28, 2010
Scot
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I’ve read a few different books on art forgery in the last few years, most memorably Dolnick’s The Forger’s Spell. I enjoy combining learning more about art and art history with how high stakes crimes in this area have operated in the past, and how they (I assume) continue to endure in the present. I know that technology regularly offers advancements in spotting the fakes, but I’d suspect that it also regularly offers criminal minds – particularly the more creative ones – ways to circumvent th
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May 17, 2009
Eva
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This could almost be considered a fantasy - or maybe it really is a bona fide fantasy. After all, an immensely talented artist (who refuses to truckle to the masses or pander to art critics or basically do anything but be true to himself - but he doesn't know who he is) keeps having extremely realistic fantasies that he is Velasquez (the famous Spanish painter of yore), to the point that he knows details of V.'s life that he couldn't possibly know unless he really was experiencing some kind of
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Nov 11, 2008
Steve
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I started recommending this book before I had even finished it. The main character is an artist who takes a roller coaster emotional and psychological ride to the very end of the book. Gruber makes you wonder as the story progresses whether his artist is someone born outside of their time or living in a world of his own creation. Interesting mix of stories from different times historically and action to build a plot. I will read some of Gruber’s previous books now.
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Oct 18, 2010
Stacey
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This was a book I found abandoned on the bargain shelf at Barnes & Noble, and the title caught my eye because I only recently read The Art Forger's Handbook by renowned 20th-century art forger Eric Hebborn. (Side note: Mr. Hebborn makes a "guest appearance" in Venus.) Why the bargain shelf? Is it because people who are not painters don't get excited about art forgery books? Well it was certainly misplaced, and I was indeed fortunate to rescue it from its bargain-shelf fate. This book i
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Apr 03, 2009
Sharlene
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A knock off of Tracy Chevalier's Girl with a Pearl Earring -- the story is fact and fiction woven around a famous painting. Most of the story is told via a recording on a CD--a first person account of an artist who travels through time and space while under the influence of a drug. In reality--that portion of the book fills more than 7 discs in the audio format. An interesting premise for a story, but I was rather put off by this book. I like a book that enlightens me in some area--I learn a
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Jan 15, 2012
Julie
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Dig your old copy of "The History of European Art" from freshman year out of the attic and look up all the art references as you make your way through this literary/timetravel/mystery novel. As with the other novel I have read by Gruber, The Book of Air and Shadows, this book has a nice blend of scholarship and thrills. My favorite parts were definitely the references to Goya, Velazquez, Bosch and other Spanish painters. As a young college student I spent dozens of hours standing in fr
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Apr 28, 2011
Edward
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A brilliant book, or rather a book with a brilliant concept that sometimes lagged in the narrative details of the story surrounding it, but necessary in a novel that tells a story. Otherwise, well, you’d have an extended historical art study, and who would want to read that except for a few scholars? What was really missing, though, was a full page illustration of Velazquaz' THE ROKEBY VENUS, as well as some other famous nude paintings that are mentioned in the novel. Granted, More...
Feb 09, 2012
Linda
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The Forgery of Venus tells the story, in his own words, of artist Chaz Wilmot, one of the greatest talents of his (our) time. The reasons no one knows it is that he refuses to sell out to the shallow demands of the current art world. Chaz wants to paint like Vermeer, Caravaggio, or, in this case, Velasquez. A pair of art dealers, recognizing this, lure him into creating a forgery, one so good that no one will believe it's not a 17th original. Chaz justifies his choice because of his need to rais
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Dec 12, 2011
Carolyn
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Gruber is a great pleasure to read because of his intelligence and erudition. My only regret is that there remains only one of his books (The Good Son) that I haven't read yet since I discovered him a couple of months ago.
This one is hard to categorize. Not exactly literary fiction, not exactly fantasy, not exactly a thriller, although it has elements of all of these genres. Gruber is particularly interested in the nature of consciousness, especially altered states induced by shamani More...
This one is hard to categorize. Not exactly literary fiction, not exactly fantasy, not exactly a thriller, although it has elements of all of these genres. Gruber is particularly interested in the nature of consciousness, especially altered states induced by shamani More...
Mar 23, 2011
David
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Not my kind of protagonist, on the surface -- a neurotic, self-destructive New Yorker with a tremendous artistic gift who can't seem to manage to be happy. From this beginning, though, Gruber spins a fantastic tale in which Wilmot, the painter, has increasingly long and vivid dreams that he is, in fact, 17th century master painter Diego Velasquez. Like the movie A Beautiful Mind, it quickly becomes unclear what reality is the real one, especially as Velasquez is having dreams of contemporary l
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Jul 10, 2010
This is my first exposure to Michael Gruber and what a treat! An artist of immense talent spends his time painting magazine covers for a few thousand dollar rather that painting what he likes and does well. His former wife, a gallery owner, knows this better than anyone else. The artist signs up for the test of an experimental drug that is known to release artistic talent. Our hero is taken back to Spain and Italy in the 17th century and slowly learns that he is living the life of the artist Va
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May 01, 2009
Ben
rated it: 
Although it contains a promising theme, The Forgery of Venus lacks a compelling story. Its characters are largely shallow and uninteresting; its plot is overly-complicated; the pacing suffers from an overabundance of exposition. While I'm sure Gruber had the best of intentions, his poor technical execution leaves much to be desired. Ultimately, I found The Forgery of Venus unsatisfactory.
For reasons that later become clear (unreliable narrator), Gruber chooses to wrap the story in More...
For reasons that later become clear (unreliable narrator), Gruber chooses to wrap the story in More...
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Apr 01, 2009
Julie
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While I enjoyed the idea of this book, I didn't love love love the book itself. The premise is this painter isn't realizing his true potential (and isn't making any money), so he signs up to be part of an paid experimental drug trial. The drugs cause him to halucinate and believe that he is actually a painter in the 1650's. Or does it? He isn't sure if 1650 is reality or now is reality or what. Sounds convoluted? It is. Michael Gruber (local Seattle writer) did a good job in describing th
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Jan 12, 2011
Chris
rated it:
Amazing...Tearing through this...
Present day, a talented painter finds himself painting like an old master, so much so that he is having hallucinations / memories of his (past) life as Valazquez. In the telling of his story, he is jumping from the present to the past, from his life, to that of the master and we are trying to figure out who is actually doing the painting...
I read another book recently - the Physick Book of Deliverance Dane that jumped from present to past (memories) in More...
Present day, a talented painter finds himself painting like an old master, so much so that he is having hallucinations / memories of his (past) life as Valazquez. In the telling of his story, he is jumping from the present to the past, from his life, to that of the master and we are trying to figure out who is actually doing the painting...
I read another book recently - the Physick Book of Deliverance Dane that jumped from present to past (memories) in More...
Jun 14, 2009
Min
rated it:
I nearly gave this book four stars. I really liked it in parts and then there were other times I couldn't make myself pick it up. The first quarter is particularly difficult to get through. The whole bit about telling the story via recorded messages was a bit hard for me. And I didn't really connect with Chaz all that well.
The base of the novel was interesting - a dual life both in the present in the past.
I would recommend this book to people who liked The Time Traveler's Wife More...
The base of the novel was interesting - a dual life both in the present in the past.
I would recommend this book to people who liked The Time Traveler's Wife More...
Jun 17, 2009
Keith
rated it:
If memory defines identity of self and our sensory input provides us with place and time, who are we when these things change and shift about when we attempt to use them? Is Charles Wilmont an artistically unfulfilled commercial illustrator with all of the baggage of an unhappy lifetime or is he Don Diego de Silva y Velazquez, court favorite of the King of Spain in the sixteenth century ? He’s not certain and you’ll be equally undecided until the very end of this intriguing tale. This is a ri
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Dec 17, 2010
Jean Marie
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I loved this book. It's not on my all time favorite list, but it's on the "will definite reread list". As always, I'll refrain from discussing the actual plot of the book and talk about the other things. What I loved about this was it's style. The narrator, Chaz Wilmot, is a great character and incredible real. No flowery writing her, just straight up honesty. As an artist myself, I understood his frustration deep in my own bones. His adrenaline rush on the medication during the flashb
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Dec 07, 2008
Christa
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Michael Gruber writes the tale of a contemporary artist whose perceptions of reality are upended when he participates in a drug study and begins having visions of a life in the past as the painter, Diego Rodriguez de Silva Velazquez. Most of the novel is written from the first person perspective of the main character, Chaz Wilmot, or his alter ego Velazquez, but the story begins and ends with the first person point of view of a college friend of Wilmot. I found this book to be unique and refres
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Jan 04, 2009
Cynthia
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I love books that explore Art: creation, history of, art theory and this was great in that respect.
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May 17, 2009
Michael
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I figure I have to read any book that Ali gives five stars.
Based on the little I read about it, I was expecting a very different book. Words like "thriller", "suspense", and "mystery" are bandied about on the Amazon review snippets, but they don't really apply.
This is more of a rumination on authenticity and identity, especially as they relate to art.
I think I would've enjoyed it more if I'd known anything at all about visual ar More...
Based on the little I read about it, I was expecting a very different book. Words like "thriller", "suspense", and "mystery" are bandied about on the Amazon review snippets, but they don't really apply.
This is more of a rumination on authenticity and identity, especially as they relate to art.
I think I would've enjoyed it more if I'd known anything at all about visual ar More...
Apr 28, 2009
DWGibb
rated it:
Terrific read. Fascinating inside look at the international art business and the inner workings of the mind of an artist, Chaz Wilmot, who is having difficulties differentiating between fantasy and reality. This becomes particularly true when Chaz finds himself inside the skin of Diego Velásquez, living and painting in the 15th Century.
When Chaz once again finds himself in the 21st Century, his unique ability to paint exactly like Velásquez nets him a very unusual and somewhat irregu More...
When Chaz once again finds himself in the 21st Century, his unique ability to paint exactly like Velásquez nets him a very unusual and somewhat irregu More...
