Masters and Servants (The Margellos World Republic of Letters)
This book shows how much the lines continue to blur between contemporary fiction and nonfiction. In this collection, Michon, winner of the Prix France Culture Award, reconstructs the lives of five artists: Goya, Lorraine, Watteau, della Francesca, and Van Gogh. (One can't help wonder why he chose short fiction over biography.) Michon's prose is sensual, but these stories tend to be descriptive rather than narrative. One longs for more action, less cafe talk. Still, Michon has a knack for capturing the why of art: "what painting means, is to toil like a galley slave on the sea, with that furor, with that helplessness." Michon breathes life into Van Gogh's postman and has him sing for the artist in Arles. There's a wonderful scene where della Francesca accepts a small pig in payment for a large painting of St. Martin. With this pig, the artist celebrates carnival with his family. Recommended for large fiction collections.?Doris Lynch, Monroe Cty. P.L., Bloomington, Ind.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an alternatePaperbackedition.