“With every page, Gross exposes intimate details… to illustrate the fascinating history of this venerable institution,” Silvana Paternostro writes in “The Making of the Met” in the new issue of Poder, the leading Latino magazine in the Americas. “He tells the stories of the men and women who form the inner sanctum of wealth and power, how those who are at the pinnacle of New York society got to be there — by maneuvering marriage and money, by hook or by crook. The book is more like two books: one is the straight gossip of the who’s who with all … Continue reading →

UPDATE: Dominick Dunne died peacefully Wednesday at his home here in New York after a two year battle with bladder cancer, reports David Patrick Columbia‘s New York Social Diary. “F. Scott Fitzgerald famously wrote that ‘there are no Second Acts in American lives.’” DPC says. “Dominick Dunne, who most assuredly was a admirer of Fitzgerald’s work, has been the prime example of disproving that idea. Fitzgerald would have been astonished too.”

And LA loves Rogues’ Gallery. Or, at the very least, the staff at Book Soup does.

The Columbus Museum of Art’s official blog has weighed in on Rogues’ Gallery. “It’s fun, gossipy, fascinating reading; the perfect museum lover’s book for summer at the beach or at home,” says Dominique H. Vasseur, the CMA’s Curator of European Art.

This weekend, Rogues’ Gallery got its best review yet — and its worst — each from an art critic. Writing in The Buffalo News, Jean Reeves Barre called Rogues’ “audacious” and “intriguing,” “factual” and “often irreverent,” “a honeypot of gossip” filled with “detail [that] boggles the mind.” Christopher Knight of The Los Angeles Times wasn’t quite so pleased, though he couldn’t help but admit that some bits of the book are “fun” and some of its revelations “appalling.” But given his relentlessly negative tone, you can find his review yourself if you’re so inclined.

Looks like the Metropolitan Museum of Art is doing more than shrinking staff and closing stores to make up for its recession-ravaged endowment. Doyle New York, the auctioneers, just announced a September 14th sale of Asian Art from the museum. No online catalogue is yet available, but the email flyer features a model of a Japanese pagoda given to the museum by the Estate of Mrs. E. H. Harriman.

Artnet.com’s Brook Mason just posted a rave review of Rogues’ Gallery, calling it “a juicy, deliciously detailed history of the nation’s largest museum and the oversized egos of those who run it… As a history of culture in this city, it’s spot on.”

“This slightly irreverent history of one of the world’s great art museums, New York’s Metropolitan, is an intriguing look behind the scenes,” says today’s Calgary Sun. Rogues’ Gallery is “an invaluable addition to the modern history of the art world.”