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A review by maedo
A Beautiful Crime by Christopher Bollen
3.0
I hated to put this book down while I was reading it, but upon reflection, I think I lean closer to three rather than four stars. There are some twists in the book, so all thoughts to support this decision are spoiler tagged!
On the other hand, though, wealthy people in real life are almost certainly more mistrustful and guarded than they are roundly portrayed in this book. Gotta protect that cash. Which leads me to:
2.) I find it hard to believe that silver con gets pulled off to the point that money is exchanged, in the age of the internet. Putting aside the fact that West trusted the expertise of a guy he knew for like two days for a second, but...wouldn't someone with a huge interest in the art world and lots of money to spend educate himself fairly well re: details of authenticity and spotting fakes himself?
The summary conclusion of 1 & 2 is just that I think the cons in the book went off too easily, really.
3.) A personal issue, but...there is a rape scene in this that I found viscerally uncomfortable. It's there for a reason, but it certainly made me enjoy the process of reading the book less, feeling ill.
The biggest strengths of this book, however, are twofold. First, it has been 4 years since I visited Italy and Bollen brought the country back for me vividly. It was a pleasure to recall the tastes and sounds and vibrancy, the art and the sun and the people.
Secondly, I loved the homage to the older generations of LGBT Americans in the characters of Freddy and Daniela, those who lived in the margins long before medical management of HIV and legalized gay marriage. LGBT contemporary stories have multiplied exponentially on bookshelves over the last few years and that is a boon to current generations. But it is so important to keep telling the stories of the past, too.
Spoiler
1.) It bothered me how quickly the wealthy characters in this book came to trust Nick. I understand that this is social commentary on the way that attractive white corn-fed Midwestern boys are often granted trust by default, whereas Clay, a black man, is instinctively perceived as a criminal (although the rumor mill has him wrong).On the other hand, though, wealthy people in real life are almost certainly more mistrustful and guarded than they are roundly portrayed in this book. Gotta protect that cash. Which leads me to:
2.) I find it hard to believe that silver con gets pulled off to the point that money is exchanged, in the age of the internet. Putting aside the fact that West trusted the expertise of a guy he knew for like two days for a second, but...wouldn't someone with a huge interest in the art world and lots of money to spend educate himself fairly well re: details of authenticity and spotting fakes himself?
The summary conclusion of 1 & 2 is just that I think the cons in the book went off too easily, really.
3.) A personal issue, but...there is a rape scene in this that I found viscerally uncomfortable. It's there for a reason, but it certainly made me enjoy the process of reading the book less, feeling ill.
The biggest strengths of this book, however, are twofold. First, it has been 4 years since I visited Italy and Bollen brought the country back for me vividly. It was a pleasure to recall the tastes and sounds and vibrancy, the art and the sun and the people.
Secondly, I loved the homage to the older generations of LGBT Americans in the characters of Freddy and Daniela, those who lived in the margins long before medical management of HIV and legalized gay marriage. LGBT contemporary stories have multiplied exponentially on bookshelves over the last few years and that is a boon to current generations. But it is so important to keep telling the stories of the past, too.