A vibrantly illustrated chain of entanglements (romantic and
otherwise) between some of our best-loved writers and artists of the
twentieth century--fascinating, scandalous, and surprising.
Poet Robert Lowell died of a heart attack, clutching a portrait of his
lover, Caroline Blackwood, painted by her ex-husband, Lucian Freud.
Lowell was on his way to see his own ex-wife, Elizabeth Hardwick, who
was a longtime friend of Mary McCarthy. McCarthy left the father of her
child to marry Edmund Wilson, who had encouraged her writing, and had
also brought critical attention to the fiction of Anaïs Nin . . . whom
he later bedded. And so it goes, the long chain of love, affections, and
artistic influences among writers, musicians, and artists that weaves
its way through the The Art of the Affair--from Frida Kahlo to Colette
to Hemingway to Dali; from Coco Chanel to Stravinsky to Miles Davis to
Orson Welles.
Scrupulously researched but playfully prurient, cleverly designed and
colorfully illustrated, it's the perfect gift for your literary
lover--and the perfect read for any good-natured gossip-monger.