Artrage by Everett Aison

Review by Theodore Feit

This is one of the more unusual books I‚ve read in a long time. It‚s written in sort of a surreal stream-of-consciousness, flitting back in forth in time, recounting events and dreams in juxtaposition with other incidents. The main character seems to be sex-obsessed, although the novel isn‚t X-rated, but Parental Guidance is suggested.

Mace Caslon is a college scholarship graduate who became a prominent Wall Street attorney after Yale Law School. An avid art collector, primarily acquired directly from artists, he seems to be quite the expert. At this point in his life, he is bored with the law, and takes exception to the art world scene, the galleries and dealers and artists (although he has a long-standing love affair with a gallery owner).

One day out of the blue, he enters the Metropolitan Museum of Art and sprays a $41 million Picasso with acid, destroying the painting. Of course he is arrested and charged with a felony by the U.S. Attorney (how this becomes a Federal case is never explained). He remains silent and refuses to explain his actions. A female attorney with quite a reputation inserts herself to defend him, basing her defense on placing exploitive television personalities, museum officials, collectors, dealers and the rest of the art world on trial instead of Caslon.

The novel is introspective, tracing the development of Caslon and other characters, including a Police Captain jailer of the arrestee. The public is in a turmoil, with some condemning Caslon, others demanding he be set free. When Caslon‚s lover‚s son repeats his act of vandalism, Caslon makes a tape confessing in a deal to keep the kid out of jail At trial (after pleading guilty?) a couple of twists surprise the reader.

I don‚t know how most readers will react to this unusual novel, and I can‚t venture an opinion.