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The Great Man

A Novel
Christensen, Kate, 1962- (Book - 2007)
Average Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5.
The Great Man


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Random House, Inc.

From the acclaimed author of The Epicure's Lament, a novel of literary rivalry in which two competing biographers collide in their quest for the truth about a great artist.

Oscar Feldman, the "Great Man," was a New York city painter of the heroic generation

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Random House, Inc.

From the acclaimed author of The Epicure's Lament, a novel of literary rivalry in which two competing biographers collide in their quest for the truth about a great artist.

Oscar Feldman, the "Great Man," was a New York city painter of the heroic generation of the forties and fifties. But instead of the abstract canvases of the Pollocks and Rothkos, he stubbornly hewed to painting one subject—the female nude. When he died in 2001, he left behind a wife, Abigail, an autistic son, and a sister, Maxine, herself a notable abstract painter—all duly noted in the New York Times obituary.

What no one knows is that Oscar Feldman led an entirely separate life in Brooklyn with his longtime mistress, Teddy St. Cloud, and their twin daughters. As the incorrigibly bohemian Teddy puts it, "He couldn't live without a woman around. It was like water to a plant for him." Now two rival biographers, book contracts in hand, are circling around Feldman's life story, and each of these three women—Abigail, Maxine, and Teddy—will have a chance to tell the truth as they experienced it.

The Great Man is a scintillating comedy of life among the avant-garde—of the untidy truths, needy egos, and jostlings for position behind the glossy facade of artistic greatness. Not a pretty picture—but a provocative and entertaining one that incarnates the take-no-prisoners satirical spirit of Dawn Powell and Mary McCarthy.



Baker & Taylor
Following the death of New York City painter Oscar Feldman, an artist known for his paintings of the female nude, two rival biographers compete and collide as they set out to tell his life story, with the help of his wife Abigail, sister Maxine, and Teddy, his longtime mistress, in a satirical novel of literary rivalry. By the author of The Epicure's Lament. 25,000 first printing.

Blackwell North Amer
Oscar Feldman, the "Great Man," was a New York City painter of the heroic generation of the forties and fifties. But instead of the abstract canvases of the Pollocks and Rothkos, he stubbornly hewed to painting one subject - the female nude. When he died in 2001, he left behind a wife, Abigail, an autistic son, and a sister, Maxine, herself a notable abstract painter - all duly noted in the New York Times obituary.
What few know is that Oscar Feldman led an entirely separate life in Brooklyn with his longtime mistress, Teddy St. Cloud, and their twin daughters. As the incorrigibly bohemian Teddy puts it, "He couldn't live without a woman around. It was like water to a plant for him." Now two rival biographers, book contracts in hand, are circling around Feldman's life story, and each of these three women - Abigail, Maxine, and Teddy-will have a chance to tell the truth as they experienced it.

Baker
& Taylor

Following the death of New York City painter Oscar Feldman, an artist known for his paintings of the female nude, two rival biographers set out to tell his life story, with the help of his wife Abigail, sister Maxine, and Teddy, his longtime mistress.

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Imprint: New York - Doubleday
Pages: 305
Edition: 1st ed
ISBN: 9780385518451, 0385518455
Language: English
Statement of responsibility: Kate Christensen
Characteristics: 305 p. ;,22 cm.
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