Chasing Cezanne by Peter Mayle
Fiction
1991 Alfred A. Knopf
Finished on July 10, 1998
Rating: 3/5 (Good)
Publisher's Blurb:
Hanky-Panky on the international art scene is the source of the hilarity and fizz in Peter Mayle's new novel. He flies us back to the south of France (a region some readers of his irresistible best-sellers believe him to have invented), on a wild chase through galleries, homes of prominent collectors, and wickedly delectable restaurants. There are stopovers in the Bahamas and England, and in New York, where that glossiest of magazines, Decorating Quarterly, reflects the cutting-edge trendiness of its editor, Camilla Jameson Porter. (Camilla has recently broken new ground in the world of power lunches by booking two tables on the same day, and shuttling between them, at the city's trendiest restaurant.).
It is Camilla who has sent our hero, Andre Kelly, to Cap Ferrat to take glamorous photographs of the houses and treasures of the rich, famous, and fatuous. He happens to have his camera at the ready when he spots a Cezanne being loaded onto a plumber's truck near the home of an absent collector. Odd, thinks Andre. And in no time he's on the trail of a state-of-the-art art scam, chasing Cezanne.
It's a joy to follow him and the crowds intent on speeding or foiling his quest - including a beautiful agent; a super-savvy art dealer attracted to the finer things in life, especially if they promise the payoff of a lifetime; an awesome Dutch forger; some outstandingly greedy New York sophisticates; and, invisible in the background, the parade of remarkable chefs whose mouthwatering culinary masterpieces periodically soothe the hero and tantalize the reader of Chasing Cezanne.
My Original Notes (1998):
Pretty good. Light and quick. So-so up until the trip to Paris. I love a romance! Could easily be made into a movie.
My Current Thoughts:
I don't remember this plot, but I do remember that I was somewhat disappointed with this novel, preferring his nonfiction work (A Year in Provence), which was more humorous and entertaining. I'm fairly certain that I never went on to read any more of Mayle's novels.
I know I've read one of his books but it's been so many years I cannot even remember which one it was!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it was A Year in Provence. That one was very popular a few decades ago!
DeleteI've always liked his nonfiction better than his fiction. Don't you agree that some authors should stick to nonfiction? Writers always seem to want to write a novel, even when their nonfiction work is magnificent.
ReplyDeleteDeb - I do agree, with the exception of Anna Quindlen and Ann Hood. I've so enjoyed both of their novels and nonfiction works.
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