The Burnt Orange Heresy

Rating:
Summary: Good writing, offbeat fiction, BUT NOT A MYSTERY
Review: This is a fun book but it is not a mystery. I think it is classified as a mystery because so much of Willeford's work is mystery genre. This book is more a commentary on modern art and its adherents.

Rating:
Summary: Highly entertaining book...
Review: What I liked best in this book was that there was not merely a surprise ending, but surprise twists throughout. The sole drawback is that the dialogue became a bit teachy at time when the main protagonist was explaining the artist that the book centers around to his love interest (or not). On the other hand, that dialogue was realistic; it reminded me of real conversations with critics and experts that do tend to get long and boring. The book is short but the pace of events is perfect, and enough happens by the end to make it interesting.

Rating:
Summary: Time Capsule of the Culture Wars
Review: Willeford's interrogation of the battle between Christianity and Platonism with Sophistic postmodernism is so concretely placed within Miami's seething Bohemian art world as a rotten critic takes on the sacred role of art in our society and has to confront the massive realm of the western aesthetic clear back to the Renaissance shows what a powerful mind Willeford had built for himself. Forget Joyce and Umberto Eco. Willeford's the man to show us the problems of relativism, and the importance of Kantian aesthetic judgment in creating a lasting culture. Delhi, NY

Rating:
Summary: If you like quirky books..
Review: you'll love this one. If you don't, stay away. I've recommended Willeford to a couple of people who found him boring and pointless. If you enjoy deadpan prose, offbeat humor and a large dose of arcane knowledge you'll enjoy this a lot.

Rating:
Summary: If you like quirky books..
Review: you'll love this one. If you don't, stay away. I've recommended Willeford to a couple of people who found him boring and pointless. If you enjoy deadpan prose, offbeat humor and a large dose of arcane knowledge you'll enjoy this a lot.