Rating: 
Summary: Don't Forget to Eat Your Broccoli
Review: I first saw a work by Caravaggio at the Vatican exhibit during the World's Fair in New Orleans. My wife and I were truly moved by Christ's Burial and I have always wondered what type of man could paint in such an amazing manner.Sixteen years later, I was prompted to purchase the book M by a positive review of the book in the Sunday Books section of my local paper. Am I glad I purchased and read the book? Yes, much like I am feel good when I eat low fat--but tasteless-foods. I know I am doing something good for myself, but, jeez, does it have to taste so bland? Anyway, eat your broccoli and read this book. You'll feel better about yourself when you're finished. Then you'll do what I did and purchase the new Tom Robbins book and eat a pizza.
Rating: 
Summary: Great for non-art people
Review: I had read great advance reviews for this book, not really knowing much about Caraivaggio himself. Little is actually know about this highly influential artist but Robb has written a funny, interesting, suspenseful and engaging book based upon historical evidence. If for anything, other than your love of art, I recommend this book to those who feel things have changed over the last several hundred years. This book is a testimony of what we are, what we do, and why we do it. You will find characters (real people) so alive that you won't believe they lived 400 years ago. I've read passages of the court transcripts to people I know and they are unable to guess that these quotes are several hundred years old. Read this book! Aside from the historical context, information and beautiful descriptions of the paintings you will come away with a new understanding of who and what we are and how far we've come (or haven't) in the last several hundred years.
Rating:
Summary: Very Interesting Account of Caravaggio
Review: I picked up this book after reading Desmond Seward's 'Caravaggio: A Passionate Life'. As I stated in my review of that book I had no prior knowledge of this artist and it was the beautiful colour plates that initially attracted me to the book. Peter Robb's account of the life of Caravaggio is a much larger book, over 560 pages with numerous B&W and exquisite colour plates. The story covers all aspects of Michelangelo Merisi's (M) life and the author attempts to answer the questions about this artist's dark life. Peter Robb provided an insight into the politics, art and people of the period which I found very interesting and put much of M's life in perspective. I found that the story flowed along faultlessly and it was a joy to read and to learn about the paintings produced by M during his life. I did find one aspect of the book a little annoying. The author made mention or reference to a number of Caravaggio's paintings but did not provide any plates to illustrate these pictures. In the end I bought a small D&K art book which I used to cross-reference all of the artist pictures when mentioned in the narrative. Other than that I have no complaints of this beautifully presented book and I am sure that anybody who wants to learn more about this extraordinary man will certainly enjoy this book. "There was art before him and art after him, and they were not the same." - Robert Hughes
Rating:
Summary: Engrossing and exuberant
Review: I picked up this book on a whim (the cover was spectacular). I don't know much about art beyond the usual suspects, i.e. extremely popular painters. I was bowled over completely by the fascinating study the author made of M. The author's prose style was immensely readable, with descriptions of the paintings that were alive and joyous and emphatically not pedantic or dry. This is not an inaccessible scholarly text. The prose is powerful, lively, and down-to-earth without a whiff of the dreaded "dumbing-down" that can infect histories written for laypeople. The author does not assume that the reader already knows the artist's influences or the course of art history, and does an excellent job of setting his subject in the context of his time. Because so little of M's actual words have survived, the author chose to tell M's story primarily through his work. I found at the end of the book that I did, in some small way, come to know M. My wish is that each of the paintings discussed in the text had been visually represented in the book, which was unfortunately not the case. My interest in reading more about art history in general and this particularly turbulent period in Rome's history has been stimulated greatly by this book. I recommend it highly and without reserve.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing.
Review: I really expected to like this book -- I studied art history, I love to read biographies, and I'm particularly interested in Italy. However, I found that a number of things bothered me about the book and made it quite a challenge to even get through it. For one thing, I was very turned off by the writing style, which I guess is trying to be chatty and accessible, but instead came across as very affected. Deliberately grammatically incorrect writing is like fingernails on a chalkboard for me - for example, the constant use of double contractions such as "couldn't've" or, worst of all, "that'd've," just about drove me nuts. I was also very irritated by the repeated foreshadowing. For example, constant references to "the dramatic events of 1607" etc., get really annoying after a while. This is especially the case when the dramatic events turn out to be so poorly documented in the original sources that the author can only speculate on what might have happened - and speculation is fine, but it came as a let-down after having slogged through pages and pages of foreshadowing that made me think the author actually knew what would end up happening. Other things that annoyed me were the use of italics instead of quotation marks, and the failure to provide any indication within the text of where most quotations came from (you have to go through a cumbersome process of finding both the reference and the bibliography to even figure out whether some quotations were written in the 17th century or the 20th). I also never got the point of calling the main character "M" - I think this had to do with the various spellings of his name during his lifetime, but calling him M (which he certainly was never called) seems no less arbitrary than just picking a contemporary spelling or calling him Caravaggio like everyone else does. These sound like minor stylistic preferences, but for me the cumulative effect essentially overwhelmed whatever value the book may have had. I personally believe good historical stories, such as the fascinating story of Caravaggio's life, can be told in an academically responsible and grammatically correct way that is still entertaining and readable, but if that's what you're looking for, this is not the book for you.
Rating: 
Summary: It's Amazing How Much Of M's Life Can Be Reconstructed
Review: I would have given this book 5 stars without a moment's hesitation but for one issue. The Author goes into very detailed analysis on 83 paintings. The color plates are limited to 8, and then there are 20 black and white faces equally divided between, Caravaggio, and 4 of his models, Mario, Cecco, Fillide, and Lena. If you are very well schooled in this man's work this may not be an issue. However I, like one other reviewer went out and bought a book so that I could see what the Author was talking about. This is a great read, but as a major work, or definitive work, it is incomplete. I also have read Helen Langdon's book, "Caravaggio A Life", which was wonderful, and Desmond Seward's, Carravaggio A Passionate Life", which is third amongst these three. For so famous an individual, it is amazing what an enigma he has remained to history. Without his passion that kept him in touch, and in trouble with the police and a variety of individuals, including, Cardinals, Popes, The Knights Of Malta, to name a few, his already vague personal history would be a stretch to document. There has been some criticism of the Author's extensive expansion upon what some consider very limited evidence. I really feel this is a matter of degree. His entire life history is still being revised, as are the paintings that are attributed to him. According to this Author he signed one painting in his career. In fairness to the Author he goes on at length at the beginning that this is "his hypothesis", he never presents his opinions as being beyond reproach. He also rightfully acknowledges that what we know of this man continues to expand and to change. The Author's ending of Caravaggio's life is also called, "pure hypothesis". I found it intriguing, but I have read other possibilities that are also not without merit. Based upon his conduct throughout his life, and the extremely powerful enemies he made, the Author's "hypothesis" is a reasonable one. This does not mean it is the definitive one, and we probably never will know, as the last 500 years has not solved the issue. Overall this is a solid work, and while the Author does interpret he makes it clear when he is making a "hypothesis", and I found them intriguing. A recommended book, that also comes with a strong recomendation to have a visual collection of his work as a reference aid, as it will add immeasurably to your reading enjoyment.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but a Pain to Read
Review: In short, a well-researched and interesting book written in a virtually impossible-to-read style. Caravaggio's life holds your attention, but the double-contractions, lack of punctuation and single-character reference to Caravaggio as 'M' (including such mechanical feats as "M'd've" (i.e. "Caravaggio would have" (I think.)) make for an unnecessarily long read. Robb's insight into Caravaggio's style is impressive, but hampered by the lack of plates in the book (only 8 full works). (I was driven to use a second book as a reference.) Perhaps Robb was attempting a fresh and realistic take on the English language- much like Caravaggio's take on art. A second printing after a good editing could make _this work_ a masterpiece.
Rating: 
Summary: Biography as Fiction
Review: It is hard to understand the recent enthusiasm for Peter Robb's "M", a book whose approach to the painter [M]ichelangelo da Caravaggio, as one reviewer has noted, is "unashamedly populist" and "disreputable." I am frankly puzzled that Amazon readers and professional reviewers seem unfazed by the liberties Robb has taken with historical material in this 570-page tabloid with a Fritz Lang title. Confusing fact and fiction in historical biography is simply not commendable--even if it is done with "passion and panache." Inventing central facts in a subject's life, as Robb does here, goes way beyond even the dubious license of Edmund Morris in his biography of Ronald Reagan. There is scant historical evidence to support the description of a love relationship between Caravaggio and Francesco (Cecco) Boneri, to which Robb dedicates dozens of fictional pages. Nor is there anything in the record to justify Robb's Hollywood ending that Caravaggio was murdered by the Knights of Malta. Robb's vulgarization of Caravaggio's works and the people he associated with is mere sensationalism and detracts from the few interesting observations the author provides about the artist's style and social context. Given that several excellent books on Caravaggio have appeared in the last few years, especially those by Catherine Puglisi and Helen Langdon, the New York Times and other reviewers have done a real disservice to the public by giving such prominence to one of the worst. David M. Stone, Associate Professor, Italian Baroque Art, University of Delaware
Rating:
Summary: A thrilling story and a great art book
Review: Peter Robb has managed to achieve a miraculous symphony in this long (500 + pages) book: It's a biography, a detective story (little is known about Caravaggio's life), a social history of Rome, and a definitive art book. As a result, you can read this book on many levels. I read it first as a "beach book" for the story, and then again, when I took a vacation to Rome and tried to see as many of his remaining paintings as I could. Robb explains how Caravaggio was a breakthrough painter in his use of light, and in his use of recognizable local models (almost all of whom Robb has been able to identify) to express the religious art of the day. Mannerism died at his hands. Moreover, Peter Robb builds a credible portrait of Caravaggio's brittle personality--it's easy to see why people were out to kill him. At first I thought the title "M" was a little contrived, but by the end of the book, I realized that it's cipher for the real man behind the familiar name. (Calling someone "Caravaggio" after the town is like giving someone the nickname "Boston"). The reproductions are carefully chosen and richly presented. You'll enjoy reading--and re-reading--this wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: From Out of the Dark
Review: Peter Robb has written a very moving and modern biography of a man whose life has been shrouded and obscured by myth for more than three centuries. Primary sources are referred to and evaluated throughout the book. The piquant translations of sixteenth and seventeenth century Italian police and court records into contemporary Australian slang gives the setting of Roman street life great immediacy and life. Caravaggio's joy in the "unspeakable" love is approached by Robb with cautiousness but with understanding. His unconventional choice of lovers was, of course, the reason for the shroud thrown over the artist's life and work. In one instance a green curtain was proposed to hide his painting of a boy lover as cupid in a great man's collection. Peter Robb speculates, also, that a sexual adventure was directly responsible for Caravaggio's disappearance and death. The book would be improved by more illustrations of the works described so brilliantly by the author. A great read - for many reasons.
| 
