GOING ONCE

Rating:
Summary: A Bygone Era in Auctioneering
Review: I feel sorry for the people who came to him during one of Sotheby's "Antiques Roadshow" style days, for he was withering when confronted with the junk people offered him off of Aunt Tillie's mantelpiece. He is fairly fearless when it comes to painting a portrait of himself as the ultimate New York society queen. Poor guy died of AIDS not long after this book was published, and I find it still enjoyable. It seems as though a lot of Sotheby's secrets went to the grave with him, for he certainly knew where most of the bodies were buried. His account of the Andy Warhol estate auction is mind boggling, so you will forgive him his gaucheries and his non-stop bitchiness. Another good story is how he auctioned off (for charity) the services of David Hockney who volunteered to paint your swimming pool, and how the film producer Lester Persky had to be shamed into bidding for what was on the face of it an incredible bargain. We all love auction stories, for they remind us that maybe someday we will find a bargain worth bragging about, whether in the world of the decorative and visual arts, or in romance, as I did when I married my present wife.