The Burnt Orange Heresy

The Burnt Orange HeresyThe Burnt Orange Heresythe 1970s crime classichas lost none of its savage delights as it re creates the making of a murderer, calmly and with exquisite tension, while satirizing the workings of the art world as the ultimate con. "Stunning" (The New Yorker). Fast talking, backstabbing, womanizing, and fiercely ambitious art critic James Figueras will do anythingblackmail, burglary, and beyondto make a name for himself. When an unscrupulous collector

The Burnt Orange Heresy—the 1970s crime classic—has lost none of its savage delights as it re-creates the making of a murderer, calmly and with exquisite tension, while satirizing the workings of the art world as the ultimate con. "Stunning" (The New Yorker).

Fast-talking, backstabbing, womanizing, and fiercely ambitious art critic James Figueras will do anything—blackmail, burglary, and beyond—to make a name for himself.

When an unscrupulous collector offers Figueras a career-making chance to interview Jacques Debierue, the greatest living—and most reclusive—artist, the critic must decide how far he will go to become the art-world celebrity he hungers to be.

Will Figueras stop at the opportunity to skim some cream for himself or push beyond morality's limits to a bigger payoff?

Crossing the art world with the underworld, Charles Willeford created a novel of dark hue and high aesthetic polish. And to add to the juicy 1970s story: Donald Sutherland and Mick Jagger starred in the movie version of this book.

"A novel full of genuine fun that also manages to make a level statement about the art world and its hermetic credulities.” —The New Yorker