De Kooning's Bicycle

Follow Grover Gardner to the Hamptons of the 1960s, where you'll find American abstract expressionists--De Kooning, Pollock, and others--struggling with their art and their addictions in a famed artist's colony. Gardner, as usual, delivers the prose with depth and alacrity, painting rich word pictures and anecdotes of daily life and the artistic chaos that led to later--often posthumous--fame. With his narrative skills, Gardner takes what could be a mildly informative account and delivers a cinematic audio treatment of these debauched characters, guiding us on a tour of their creative minds through the lens of their daily lives at this time and place. D.J.B. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

Starred review from October 1, 2006
This account of writers and artists living in the Hamptons, primarily from the end of World War II until the mid-1980s, begins as a conventional narrative, with a brief history of Long Island, before shifting into something much less conventional. Long offers sketches of his characters, complete with imagined dialog and interior thoughts, because he is less concerned with the facts than with illustrating how these figures' lives and work are interwoven. Art critic for the "East Hampton Star" as well as a poet, Long also shows the influence of locale. Looking out a train window, Frank O'Hara sees not Long Island but Fairfield Porter's impressions of the landscape. The much honored Grover Gardner makes Long's portraits of Jackson Pollock, Willem De Kooning, and Saul Steinberg come alive. Standouts include a sad look at Jean Stafford in decline and a vivid insight into O'Hara, who seems the most open to the varied experiences offered by the Hamptons. Highly recommended for all collections."Michael Adams, CUNY Graduate Ctr."

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.