Lunar Follies
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- £11.99
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- £11.99
Publisher Description
The two-time PEN/Faulkner Award finalist and author of Mulligan Stew paints a “clever parodic take on the contemporary art world” (Publishers Weekly). How often have you been subjected to supposed artists, art critics, or works of “art” that left you wondering what the word even means? And just who the hell are these pseudo-cool people who think they know what you should like better than you? In this bitingly satiric, imaginative tour of gallery, museum and performance art exhibitions, Gilbert Sorrentino brilliantly and mercilessly skewers the precious pretensions of the contemporary art world and its flailing attempts at maintaining relevance in a society whose attentions have strayed to the immediacy of pop culture. With precise comedic timing and an eye toward lascivious detail, Sorrentino is the perfect guide through this hilariously absurd and “deliciously funny” world (Booklist).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Readers skeptical of (but intrigued by) conceptual and installation art will enjoy this clever parodic take on the contemporary art world. In fake reviews, lists of found objects, profiles, photo captions and catalogue copy each named for moon landmarks ("Sea of Rains," "Straight Wall," "Lake of Dreams," etc.) Sorrentino (Little Casino) satirizes the esoteric works found on the cultural cutting edge. He skewers highfalutin academic language ("These familiar geometrical shapes function as footnotes or marginalia, of course"), targets fashion magazines featuring models in $900 "food-encrusted" sweaters from stores with names like "Suck-Egg Mule" and pokes fun at galleries by listing works they've inexplicably rejected, then displayed, including "Myrna Felt Like Undressing for the Conductor" by Yolanda Philippo and "Bottle of Worcestershire Sauce" by Raoul. But like the neon sculptures he playfully derides, Sorrentino belongs to the avant-garde: there's no narrative here, nor are there central characters. Instead, there's a dead-on appropriation of the pretentious critic's voice, which analyzes "qualities that insist on the absence that is within the implied absence of the brick pile itself" and an exquisite attention to detail within the fakery. This proves an intimate knowledge of the subject being mocked; beneath his loving, blustery banter, Sorrentino clearly values the rights of artists to push the limits of audience expectation and patience.
