Review: The Art Thief

I went to college with Noah Charney, the author of The Art Thief. I met him when I was a freshman and he was a sophomore. He lived in the Coburn 6-man with 4 other people (2 of whom are now married and just had a baby). I ended up living in the same suite (although not the same room) the following year. We had a lot of mutual friends, and I used to hang out in his room and we'd do our homework together, sitting on his bed & listening to music. He still has my blue fleece blanket, btw.

We kind of lost touch after my freshman year (he went abroad to London when he was a junior and then when he came back his senior year I was in Paris for the first semester). A few months ago I noticed this article in the NYT magazine. Then I read about him again in the Colby magazine. Apparently he's 'invented' the field of scholarly study to solve art theft, and is now the world's foremost authority. He's also written a novel. I wasn't sure what I'd think of it - the reviews on Amazon were...erm...crap.

The writing style is exceedingly verbose - if it weren't by someone I know I don't think I'd have read past the first few pages. Why use one adjective when 6 will do? I kept reading bits out to John, prefaced by "Oh my God, you won't believe THIS sentence!"

Overall, though, much as a part of me wanted to, I didn't hate it. Despite all the adjectives and the somewhat hackneyed writing, the twist at the end was kinda clever and I may even admit to having enjoyed it. I feel like a bit of a numpty for not spotting the twist earlier, but still.

Oh, and if you check his bio on NoahCharney.com, it mentions his punk band, The Jump Into. I have their debut (and only) CD, bought from the bass player (who I dated in college, another claim to fame...) It kind of sucks, but what can you do?