Though interesting, this book might well have been titled "Why I'm Right and Everyone Else is Wrong". This is an author with a definite purpose, and any enlightenment one gets is secondary to the book's overall tone of self-justification. Though Feigen shows an intense dislike for ex-Met director Thomas Hoving, Hoving's books consistently deliver more solid information and fewer sour grapes and give a more balanced view of the art world.

In this account of his many years as one of New York's most prominent art dealers, Richard Feigen offers readers a personal and engaging view of the art world's past and the many issues it faces in the present.

The difficulty with Mr. Feigen's book is that fails to approach these issues in an intellectually engaged and balanced manner. Though he presents delighful, and at times humourous accounts of his relationships with several prominent collectors, Feigen then proceeds to mow down most of the museum directors of the last thirty years and several very influential and erudite academics. He also glosses over important details and omits others, presenting a one-sided, opinionated view of many events that in reality were much more complicated. In his account of the "Boston Massacre," for example, he does not address concerns that many of the curators fired were uncooperative, unproductive, or both.

Though the book's organization obscures its thesis somewhat, it appears that Feigen envisions a return to an era in which museums functioned as private clubs for the independently wealthy and art historians were chiefly concerned with objects' formal qualities. This hardly seems like a desirable goal and ignores the many financial and legal issues that face the modern museum. In the end, the reader is disappointed that Feigen was unable to provide a more thoughtful and productive contribution.

I found Richard Feigen's book to be a mostly worthy criticism of the current art world. I am the son of Sam Salz who is mentioned in a short passage in the book as a legendary art dealer. I think Mr.Feigen's description of his method of dealing is accurate eventhough my father's german-jewish accent is slightly overdone. My father may have been a shrewd and sometimes ruthless negotiator but he always saught a good home for "his pictures" and could judge a great one from a "postage stamp". The rest of the book deals very well with the gradual takeover of large corporate interests in the museums. Sometimes Mr. Feigen has a tendency to portray himself a the sole saviour in a corrupt system but more than a few of his shots are right on target.