Synopses & Reviews
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The Player, Robert Altman's hilariously poker-faced dissection of the Hollywood studio world, Danny Moynihan's lurid quick cuts uncover of the tenderest portions of the art world's underbelly to maximum effect.
Elaine Yoon, a tattooed, pierced, Chinese-Californian lesbian who obsessively seduces straight women, films video shorts of her sexual conquests to compile into "a really cool piece."
Jo Richards, an intellectually challenged installation artist grappling with the idea of peripheral vision, knows of what is supposedly Mondrian's last painting in his abstract Boogie-Woogie series, which the owners might be persuaded to part with for very little.
Art Spindle, a cravat-wearing, reptilian art dealer, desperately wants to sell the Mondrian, when he isn't lusting after his staff, or sleeping with Jean Maclestone, collector and art-hag, the vain wife of stuttering über-collector Bob Maclestone.
Freign, the exceedingly proper manservant, through whose interior monologue we hear about his exploits as both a lover and a killer, attends to Mr. Rhinegold, the bitter, housebound, elderly owner of the Mondrian.
Dewey Bozo, a ridiculously camp wannabe curator with a taste for S&M wants Spindle to do his next show, but instead settles for Beth Freemantle, a ditzy former employee of Art Spindle, who after an inheritance, has some plastic surgery and opens her own gallery.
This cast of characters dance through incestuous working relationships, run-ins with incompetent gallery owners, and avoid (or succumb to) the lure of manipulative art dealers. Danny Moynihan's deliciously satirical scenes cumulate in Elaine and Jo's fantastical opening show, involving the humiliation of Elaine's dealer, several catfights, and excellent sales. Set against the big-business '90's New York art scene, the sexual deviants, attention seekers, and would-be murderers ring true in this sophisticated, sharply observed, darkly humorous novel.
Review
"The story rocks... the next time [readers] visit their favorite gallery, though, they may look a little more closely, and wisely, at what they see." (The Wall Street Journal)
Synopsis
In
Boogie-Woogie, Danny Moynihan casts a satirical eye over an extraordinary milieu: the nineties New York art scene. With a nod to Mondrian's abstract masterpiece, 'Broadway Boogie-Woogie', Moynihan sets out to recreate the energy of that period of excess. In doing so he paints a deliciously lurid and subversive picture of the lives and loves of artists, dealers, and wannabees in a cut-throat world.
Boogie-Woogie is a novel of tremendous originality and verve.
Synopsis
Like
The Player's hilariously poker-faced dissection of Hollywood,
Boogie-Woogie's lurid quick cuts uncover of the tenderest portions of the '90's New York art world's underbelly
Elaine Yoon, a tattooed, pierced, Chinese-Californian lesbian, obsessively seduces straight women, and films video shorts of her sexual conquests. Jo Richards, an intellectually challenged installation artist grappling with the idea of peripheral vision, knows the whereabouts of Mondrian's last painting. Art Spindle, a cravat-wearing, reptilian art dealer, desperately wants to sell the Mondrian, when he isn't sleeping with Jean Maclestone, collector and art-hag, the vain wife of stuttering über-collector Bob Maclestone.
This cast of characters dance through incestuous working relationships, run-ins with incompetent gallery owners, and the lure of manipulative art dealers. Danny Moynihan's deliciously satirical sexual deviants, attention seekers, and would-be murderers ring true in this sophisticated, sharply observed, darkly humorous novel.
About the Author
Danny Moynihan has had first-hand experience of the art world curating shows, managing galleries, and exhibiting his own work. He lives in London. This is his first novel.