Miranda France
Droit Moral
Theft: A Love Story
By Peter Carey
Faber & Faber 269pp £16.99
Peter Carey has long been interested in writing about hoaxes, deceit, cultural authority and authenticity, so it was perhaps inevitable that his eye would come to rest on the iniquities of the international art market. It might have happened before now, had Carey not vowed to leave the art world alone, believing that ‘writers always get painters wrong’.
Apparently the novelist was persuaded to change his mind by an artist friend in New York who regularly entertained him over lunch with stories of such shocking chicanery that he could no longer resist the theme.
Carey was particularly fascinated by the concept of droit moral which, in French law, bestows on its owner the right to authenticate a painting. Droit moral can be inherited and, as Carey told one interviewer, ‘I thought this was so fantastic, where you could have this thing where you can
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Knowledge of Sufism increased markedly with the publication in 1964 of The Sufis, by Idries Shah. Nowadays his writings, much like his father’s, are dismissed for their Orientalism and inaccuracy.
@fitzmorrissey investigates who the Shahs really were.
Fitzroy Morrissey - Sufism Goes West
Fitzroy Morrissey: Sufism Goes West - Empire’s Son, Empire’s Orphan: The Fantastical Lives of Ikbal and Idries Shah by Nile Green
literaryreview.co.uk
Rats have plagued cities for centuries. But in Baltimore, researchers alighted on one surprising solution to the problem of rat infestation: more rats.
@WillWiles looks at what lessons can be learned from rat ecosystems – for both rats and humans.
Will Wiles - Puss Gets the Boot
Will Wiles: Puss Gets the Boot - Rat City: Overcrowding and Urban Derangement in the Rodent Universes of John B ...
literaryreview.co.uk
Twisters features destructive tempests and blockbuster action sequences.
@JonathanRomney asks what the real danger is in Lee Isaac Chung's disaster movie.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/eyes-of-the-storm