Luncheon of the Boating Party

Luncheon of the Boating Party
by Susan Vreeland

Luncheon of the Boating Party
List Price: $15.00
Our Price: $5.91
You Save: $9.09 (61%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Susan Vreeland
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Published)
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2008-02-26
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)

Book Reviews of Luncheon of the Boating Party

Book Review: Celebrating the goodness of life
Summary: 4 Stars

"Luncheon of the Boating Party" by Susan Vreeland has been heavily reviewed on Amazon and elsewhere since it first appeared in 2007, but it took a recent visit to the Phillips Collection, here in Washington, and another look at the Renoir masterpiece to re-ignite my curiosity about how it came to be painted.

One Amazon reviewer suggested that it took a lot of guts for author Vreeland to undertake the creation of the possible story of Renoir and his models for the painting. Gutsy it was, but also wonderfully successful, I think. Her research into authentic documents and materials was extensive and admirable, and has given this fiction a solid, factual and believable foundation.

As a result, "Luncheon of the Boating Party" is an evocative (and credible) account of many aspects of French life and culture of the 1880s --the changing French art scene with its own politics and personal rivalries; urban life in the Paris of the time; the sport of boating; French bourgeois cuisine; the lasting impact of the Franco-Prussian War on the French people; and French theater among many other things.

While the reviews of this excellent book have been many and often insightful and eloquent, I found it curious that so little has been said about one of the principal characters in the story--Gustave Caillebotte. The author gave this talented, generous and complicated man a major role in the story of the painting, but that does not seem to have grabbed the attention or interest of many reviewers. To her credit, author Vreeland has been fairly direct in identifying Caillebotte as a gay man, and has described with some sensitivity how that must have shaped his relations with the otherwise strongly heterosexual group that he was part of in this story and in the artistic world of the 1880s. Caillebotte was a great friend to Renoir and a quiet hero in this story, but he was also a painter of enormous talent, an art patron with great vision and generosity and a sportsman of considerable reknown. So kudos to Vreeland for giving him some of the credit that he most certainly deserves as an important historic figure.

I got much more from this admirable novel than I expected. It was almost all pure enjoyment. Highly recommended.

Summary of Luncheon of the Boating Party

A vivid exploration of one of the most beloved Renoir paintings in the world, ?done with a flourish worthy of Renoir himself? (USA Today)

With her richly textured novels, Susan Vreeland has offered pioneering portraits of artists? lives. Now, as she did in Girl in Hyacinth Blue, Vreeland once again focuses on a single painting?Auguste Renoir?s instantly recognizable masterpiece, which depicts a gathering of Renoir?s real friends enjoying a summer Sunday on a café terrace along the Seine. Narrated by Renoir and seven of the models, the novel illuminates the gusto, hedonism, and art of the era. With a gorgeous palette of vibrant, captivating characters, Vreeland paints their lives, loves, losses, and triumphs so vividly that ?the painting literally comes alive? (The Boston Globe).

Historical Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Historical Books
Pirate Latitudes: A Novel ImagePirate Latitudes: A Novel
by Michael Crichton
Harper; Published: 2009-11-24; Roughcut; Book
Best price: $2.49
Price in other shops: $27.99
The Master Butchers Singing Club: A Novel ImageThe Master Butchers Singing Club: A Novel
by Louise Erdrich
Harper Perennial; Published: 2004-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.83
Price in other shops: $13.95
The Last Witchfinder: A Novel ImageThe Last Witchfinder: A Novel
by James Morrow
William Morrow; Published: 2006-03-14; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops: $25.95
Zorro ImageZorro
by Isabel Allende
HarperAudio; Published: 2005-05-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $3.11
Price in other shops: $39.95
The Hot Kid: A Novel ImageThe Hot Kid: A Novel
by Elmore Leonard
William Morrow; Published: 2005-05-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.89
Price in other shops: $25.95
The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Chronicles Series #1) ImageThe Last Kingdom (The Saxon Chronicles Series #1)
Mass Market Paperback; Book
Bones of the Hills (Conqueror, Book 3) ImageBones of the Hills (Conqueror, Book 3)
by Conn Iggulden
Harper Collins Canada; Published: 2008; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $44.70
March ImageMarch
by Geraldine Brooks
Penguin Books; Published: 2006; Paperback; Book
Emperor (Emperor 1) ImageEmperor (Emperor 1)
by Conn Iggulden
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2003-06-07; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.80
Girl With a Pearl Earring ImageGirl With a Pearl Earring
by Tracy Chevalier
Harper Collins Audio; Published: 2002-06-17; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $86.82
Similar Books and other products
Dancing for Degas: A Novel ImageDancing for Degas: A Novel
by Kathryn Wagner
Bantam; Published: 2010-03-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.98
Price in other shops: $15.00
Girl in Hyacinth Blue ImageGirl in Hyacinth Blue
by Susan Vreeland
MacMurray & Beck; Published: 1999-09-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.92
Price in other shops: $17.50
Life Studies : Stories ImageLife Studies : Stories
by Susan Vreeland
Published: 2004-12-16; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.54
Price in other shops: $24.95
The Lady and the Unicorn: A Novel ImageThe Lady and the Unicorn: A Novel
by Tracy Chevalier
Plume; Published: 2004-12-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.40
Price in other shops: $16.00
The Forest Lover ImageThe Forest Lover
by Susan Vreeland
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2004-11-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.37
Price in other shops: $15.00
The Passion of Artemisia: A Novel ImageThe Passion of Artemisia: A Novel
by Susan Vreeland
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2002-12-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.48
Price in other shops: $15.00
The Private Lives of the Impressionists ImageThe Private Lives of the Impressionists
by Sue Roe
Harper Perennial; Published: 2007-10-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.52
Price in other shops: $17.99
Claude & Camille: A Novel of Monet ImageClaude & Camille: A Novel of Monet
by Stephanie Cowell
Broadway; Published: 2011-04-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.83
Price in other shops: $15.00
Girl in Hyacinth Blue ImageGirl in Hyacinth Blue
by Susan Vreeland
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2000-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.65
Price in other shops: $14.00
Clara and Mr. Tiffany: A Novel ImageClara and Mr. Tiffany: A Novel
by Susan Vreeland
Random House; Published: 2011-01-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.94
Price in other shops: $26.00