The superficial glamour of Berlin's hedonistic high society between the wars is revealed in all its decadence in this fictionalised art-world fraud scandal during the Weimar period. The quest for verifiable artistic attribution echoes the search for authenticity and intrinsic value, in an era of conspiracy, corruption and moral degeneracy. If you enjoyed the show 'Cabaret' you may appreciate this literary delve into a nation's dark psyche.
He had always know what to say and how best to say it, how to balance erudition and accessibility, the superficial shimmer of the surface with the depth of the long view. The sentences spooled from him like spider's silk, reflexively, their patterns pre-ordained. Not this time. This time words were tangles of sticky hair, clumping and clotting in his head. He closed his eyes to try to see them better, but all he saw was Vincent, green-faced and gaunt, and, reflected in his relentless stare, the corpse of Dix's crucified soldier.