{"product_id":"portrait-of-an-unknown-lady-isbn-9781646221752","title":"Portrait of an Unknown Lady","description":"\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e Editors' Choice\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Notable author María Gainza, who dazzled critics with \u003ci\u003eOptic Nerve\u003c\/i\u003e, returns with the captivating story of an auction house employee on the trail of an enigmatic master forger\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the Buenos Aires art world, a master forger has achieved legendary status. Rumored to be a woman, she specializes in canvases by the painter Mariette Lydis, a portraitist of Argentinean high society. But who is this absurdly gifted creator of counterfeits? What motivates her? And what is her link to the community of artists who congregate, night after night, in a strange establishment called the Hotel Melancólico? \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn the trail of this mysterious forger is our narrator, an art critic and auction house employee through whose hands counterfeit works have passed. As she begins to take on the role of art-world detective, adopting her own methods of deception and manipulation, she warns us “not to proceed in expectation of names, numbers or dates . . . My techniques are those of the impressionist.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDriven by obsession and full of subtle surprise, \u003ci\u003ePortrait of an Unknown Lady\u003c\/i\u003e is a highly seductive and enveloping meditation on what we mean by \"authenticity\" in art, and a captivating exploration of the gap between what is lived and what is told.\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e Editors' Choice\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e Best Book of the Year\u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e Best Book of The Year\u003cbr\u003eA\u003ci\u003e Town and Country\u003c\/i\u003e Must-Read Book of Spring\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eCrimeReads\u003c\/i\u003e Best International Crime Book of the Month\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Gainza has much to say about the creative life, about art and ways of seeing, about perception and reality, authenticity and simulation, fidelity and betrayal. These are matters she takes seriously and about which she writes with exceptional acuity and precision. But the dominant spirit . . . is one of playfulness and humor.\" —Sigrid Nunez, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Argentine art critic and novelist María Gainza’s \u003ci\u003ePortrait of an Unknown Lady\u003c\/i\u003e takes an unorthodox perspective on the modern-art market, offering a kind of homage to the underworld of forgery . . . Ms. Gainza proves herself a dab hand at concisely digesting artists’ lives, finding delight in idiosyncrasy and social rebellion.\" —Sam Sacks, \u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"María Gainza’s \u003ci\u003ePortrait of an Unknown Lady\u003c\/i\u003e, translated from Spanish by Thomas Bunstead, takes a more philosophical look at the art world by questioning what constitutes an artist. The titular portrait is figurative; our narrator, a disillusioned art critic in Buenos Aires using the nom de plume María Lydis, is investigating a mysterious figure . . . Bunstead’s colorful translation reads at times as an adventure serial, at times as a hard-boiled noir, and throughout it all, María uses her wit, erudition and sass to suss out the true meaning of art.\" —Cory Oldweiler, \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Gainza weaves a fascinating, often confounding story about beauty, obsession and authenticity . . . Like Bolaño, she writes stories within stories, each with its own melancholy mood and unsolvable mystery . . . A novel with many beautiful, confounding moments. Maria Gainza is sharp, modern and playful, a writer who multiplies the possibilities for fiction.\" —Johanna Thomas-Corr, \u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Exploring issues of authenticity and originality, Argentine novelist and art critic Gainza offers up an impressionistic, unconventional, and highly rewarding novel about a group of art forgers in Buenos Aires in the 1960s.\" —David Conrads, \u003ci\u003eThe Christian Science Monitor\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A truly exquisite novel . . . moving, clever and written with a wry precision.” —Stuart Kelly,\u003ci\u003e The Scotsman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"There’s a lot to like in \u003ci\u003ePortrait of an Unknown Lady\u003c\/i\u003e, from the slick Argentinian high-society setting, to the lovely writing and laudable translation from Bunstead.\" —Ian J. Battaglia, \u003ci\u003eChicago Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The value of truth, reality, and authenticity are all interrogated in this stunningly slippery novel, as Gainza eloquently probes the difference between art and artifice . . . \u003ci\u003ePortrait of an Unknown Lady\u003c\/i\u003e is wholly original, a quality which things both real and replicated can possess, so long as the creator knows what they are doing. And, with Gainza, readers are in the hands of a master.\" —Kristin Iversen, \u003ci\u003eJust Circling Back\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Intelligent and tensile . . . A loose investigation into the nature of art and of memory, scattered with gems of intrigue and insight.\" —Emily Temple, \u003ci\u003eLit Hub\u003c\/i\u003e, One of the Most Anticipated Books of the Year\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A mesmerizing deep dive into the art world through a neo-noir female detective's quest to find a forger in Buenos Aires . . . Dreamy and atmospheric . . . \u003ci\u003ePortrait of an Unknown Lady\u003c\/i\u003e, eschewing structure and neat plot convention for vibrant language and a hypnotic voice, complicates rather than clarifies the stories that are told about enigmatic women.\" —\u003ci\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This captivating work is one to savor.\" —\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly \u003c\/i\u003e(starred and boxed review)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The work of an author in full command of her talents. The result is an exploration of identity and authenticity that asks what it means to be 'real,' as the term is applied either to a work of art or to a life . . . Subtle, incandescent, and luminous—a true master’s work.\" —\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The mutable, esoteric art world is again the setting for award-winning Argentinian Gainza’s latest, deftly translated by British writer-editor Bunstead . . . Shrewd audiences will surely enjoy the engrossing challenge of an unpredictable pursuit.\" —\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"There are many pleasures to be had in reading\u003ci\u003e Portrait of an Unknown Lady\u003c\/i\u003e: its sublime, transcendent sentences, its arch and shadowy figures. Most of all, the zone to which you are transported, which is a Buenos Aires of canvases, trap doors, and dreams.\" —Amina Cain, author of \u003ci\u003eIndelicacy\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"Vividly detailed and saturated with intricate feeling, Gainza's novel is an engrossing exploration of authenticity, obsession, and the enveloping allure of art.\" —Alexandra Kleeman, author of\u003ci\u003e Something New Under the Sun\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eMaría Gainza\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Buenos Aires, where she still resides. She has worked as a correspondent for \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e in Argentina, as well as for \u003ci\u003eARTnews\u003c\/i\u003e. She has also been a contributor to \u003ci\u003eArtforum, The Buenos Aires Review,\u003c\/i\u003e Radar, the cultural supplement from Argentine newspaper Página\/12. She is coeditor of the collection \u003ci\u003eLos Sentidos\u003c\/i\u003e (\u003ci\u003eThe Senses\u003c\/i\u003e) on Argentinean art, and in 2011 she published \u003ci\u003eTextos elegidos\u003c\/i\u003e (\u003ci\u003eSelected Texts).\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThomas Bunstead\u003c\/b\u003e has translated some of the leading Spanish-­language writers working today, including Bernardo Atxaga, Agustín Fernández Mallo, and Enrique Vila-­Matas, and his own writing has appeared in publications such as \u003ci\u003eBrixton Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLit Hub\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe White Review\u003c\/i\u003e. He is currently a Royal Literary Fellow teaching at Aberystwyth University. He was born in London and now lives in Pembrokeshire, Wales.","brand":"Catapult","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300752117989,"sku":"NP9781646221752","price":15.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781646221752.jpg?v=1767734987","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/portrait-of-an-unknown-lady-isbn-9781646221752","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}