Synopses & Reviews
This is the true story about the most interesting person you've never heard of: Arthur Cravan, major figure in pre-WWI cutting-edge art circles, was among the greatest mysterious figures of the twentieth century. A self-confessed thief, forger, and con-artist, he used a roster of assumed names and false identities. He was known, at various times, as a novelist, poet, painter, art critic, lecturer, publisher, and the lightweight boxing champion of France. Always a rebellious, restless spirit, this dedicated rule-breaker was a political radical whose friendship with Leon Trotsky earned him the surveillance of the U.S. government even through his immigration to Mexico with his wife, the poet Mina Loy. In 1918, at the age of thirty-one, the fascinating physical giant vanished without a trace, and despite several supposed sightings over the years was never seen again. Is it possible that he became the mysterious, reclusive novelist B. Traven, who wrote
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre?
Rick Geary, best known for his acclaimed Treasury of Victorian Murder series, richly illustrates this absorbing true story.
Review
"Arthur Cravan...claimed to be Oscar Wilde's nephew; labored and scammed around the world; was a charter Dadaist in Paris; met Jack Johnson in New York and sparred with him in Europe; married avant-garde poet Mina Loy; and disappeared in 1918 trying to get away from it all....All those escapades and more Geary renders in his characteristically droll, historically observant manner." Booklist
Review
"The format should entice teens to pick it up, and some may even be intrigued enough to seek out more information about the man themselves." VOYA
About the Author
Author/Artist Rick Geary is full of facts about strange goings on, from politics to true crime stories to great disasters like the Molasses Flood in Boston. Yet he's so smiley and happy you would never know he has a penchant for investigating dark stuff like this, which he does meticulously, thereafter creating graphic novels of intense interest and tongue-in-cheek humor.