Review: A Journey of Discovery
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 18, 2013
The best books take us on a journey of discovery. A Hook in the Sky takes the reader on a very personal journey to the often arcane landscape of the human spirit and its quest to express and understand the common beauty surrounding us that is too often overlooked. The central character, Robert, retiring from years fighting the tangled, self-serving web of bureaucracy at the United Nations, wants nothing more than to paint traditional canvases of the world as he sees it. The scenes of him stocking up with painting gear are so vivid that you can see every hue in every tube and smell the turpentine. His wife, twenty years his junior, who owns a prestigious New York gallery, is less than supportive. She is only interested in "conceptual" art and only because it sells. The journey we take with Robert as he tries to understand himself and his reason for existing is exciting, adventurous, darkly humorous, and quite poignant. It is played out in Italian locations in Sicily and Umbria, then moves on to the art worlds of Paris and London. In the process, Robert discovers passion with two free-spirited women that far exceeds what he has known with his wife. The climax is both tragic and triumphant. That Ms. Nougat knows of which she writes is evident in every word. With equal precision she skewers today's pompous art world and the maddening machinations of the U.N., both of which pale in comparison to the complexities of the human heart. The writer's words flow as gently and clearly as a mountain stream. A stimulating and highly recommended read.