When I had hit chapter 7 of this book, I went back to the front page to check the title. The author calls her book a "mind-bending journey", but halfway through the book, my mind was not only unbent, but actively bored. A full half of this book is dedicated to chronicling the author allowing herself to be ritually humiliated in new and inventive ways by a young, spoiled, insufferable, trust-fund brat who runs a gallery, doesn't want the average "schmoe" to have access to the art world, talks about everything around art except the art itself, and will spend entire hours criticising her appearance, writing, ethics, clothing, and marriage. I don't know what she gained from this experience; fortunately, she doesn't either - and it hardly needs to be said, it tells neither the author nor the reader anything about understanding art. There's a pervasive internet myth that all of art (not some of it, but all of it) is an elitist conspiracy to launder money, prevalent among people who have access to an unprecedented amount of information on art at their fingertips without any inclination to ever exercise that access. Bianca Bosker's book is for them. It is not for me.

Here are the insights that bent her mind, apparently. There many rich white male people in the art world. Some of them are sexist and racist. Money determines a great deal of things. Elitism is not uncommon. Bullying is not uncommon. I defy you to find anyone who spent five minutes on the subject and did not figure this out for themselves without having to turn one lousy internship into seven chapters of excruciatingly dull complaining. All of this true. None of it is surprising, and it is not at all mind-bending. If she wanted a famous artist to sit on her face for the experience, she could have done so without trying to convince the rest of us we'd get our minds bent by the experience too. Towards the end of the book, having failed the 'mind-bending' bit of the title, she finally turns her attention to the 'learning how to see' art aspect. It turns out you have to look at it. She learns this by working as a security guard in a museum. It's an insight that apparently could not have been gained by simply going to the museum and looking at art. Some pop science detours later, she concludes that the meaning lies in what you draw from it. This is a very roundabout way of saying, "I don't know anything about art but I know what I like." Yawn.

Bosker is a journalist who immersed herself in the New York art world for five years, trying to find out what makes art art, as well as a lot of other things. She worked with gallerists, artists, collectors, in a museum -- the gamut of the art world. The result is entertaining, informative, and at times very insightful. I won't give away her conclusions: suffice it to say I learned a lot from this very non-academic book. Thank you! ( )

I was a huge fan of the author's first book, Cork Dork. Her insights into the world of wine and sommeliers were excellent, educational, and enjoyable to read. So knowing that, I thought who better to explain the world of contemporary art? It's an area of art that I absolutely do not understand. I have several artist friends, including my wife, who also do not understand it.
Unfortunately, I was let down by this effort of Boskers. I found no hidden insights, knowledge, or explanations to help me. Perhaps there are none? Perhaps contemporary art is unexplainable. Perhaps it is produced by those former children whose parents told them that they could be anything they wanted to be? And they want to be artists, so, by god, they are artists and who are we to question their work?
The author really, really tried. She sacrificed her time and energies to this project. And she is definitely a good writer. But I have to wonder, after all the effort, if she too is not confused and wondering just what the "artists" are trying to say?
I'm not giving up on this author, and I look forward to her next effort. ( )