New York Times best-selling author and National Book Award finalist Francine Prose has written more than twenty works of fiction and nonfiction, including Caravaggio and Reading Like a Writer.
An extraordinary study of an extraordinary woman's life, by a truly gifted writer. While Detailing Guggenheim's incredible, unique contribution as a patron of the arts, Prose presents her as both glamourous and fragile. -Padma Lakshmi, The Week -- Padma Lakshmi * The Week * A whirlwind tour in a compact, peppy car through the tumultuous life of the most famous patron of modern art. -Prudence Peiffer, Artforum This excellent short biography appears in Yale's 'Jewish Lives' series, and Prose is a subtle and attentive chronicler. . . -Kathryn Hughes, Guardian By describing fairly the limits of her wealth, and the nous with which she spent it, Prose does justice to this great modern Maecenas. -Iona McLaren, Daily Telegraph Vibrant. -New Yorker This succinct biography of one of the last century's greatest collectors is an elegantly written account of the difficult and controversial life of Peggy Guggenheim. -Marina Vaizey, Art Newspaper Lively, complex, and inclined to shock, Guggenheim (1898-1979), the modern art collector, emerges as the embodiment of the age in Prose's judicious biography. -Publishers Weekly Prose skillfully blends the events of Guggenheim's experience with details about the 20th-century art scene, all in a vivid setting of time and place. Her depictions of key artists, family members, husbands, and others are distinctive in their complexity of character and contribute to a deeper understanding of the personal and professional facets of this enigmatic woman. . . . This finely researched and well-written work honestly examines the often disturbing world of an acclaimed figure. -Library Journal Prose situates Guggenheim right in the middle of the Modernist, as a new kind of woman who is hard to define, and in that she is a perfect product and reflection of her age, never less than fascinating. Without her, modern art would be much the poorer. -Lesley McDowell, Independent on Sunday In 2014 the Jewish Book Council awarded the Jewish Book of the Year honor to the Jewish Lives series-the first time in its history that a series was so honored-in recognition of its achievements thus far and its forthcoming contributions for years to come.