Description

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"An indelible portrait of a peculiar society." —Vogue

Sarah Thornton's vivid ethnography—an international hit, now available in twenty translations—reveals the inner workings of the sophisticated subcultures that make up the contemporary art world. In a series of day-in-the-life narratives set in New York, Los Angeles, London, Basel, Venice, and Tokyo, Seven Days in the Art World explores the dynamics of creativity, taste, status, money, and the search for meaning in life.

About the Author

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Sarah Thornton is a sociologist and author of three critically acclaimed books, including the international bestseller Seven Days in the Art World. She was a scholar-in-residence at University of California, Berkeley, for three years while writing Tits Up. She lives in San Francisco, California.

Praise For…

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A field guide to the nomadic tribes of the contemporary art world. The book was reported and written in a heated art market, but it is poised to endure as a work of sociology.
— New York Times Book Review

The best book yet written about the modern-art boom…a Robert Altmanesque panorama of the most important cultural phenomenon of the last ten years.
— Sunday Times [London]

Seven Days in the Art World…seems destined to outlive its moment…Thornton offers an indelible portrait of a peculiar society, simultaneously cutthroat and curious…glamorous yet filled with people who would have been unpopular in high school.

— Leslie Camhi - Vogue

An entertaining and lucid account of the mysterious ways of contemporary art…[Thornton] does well to resist the temptation to draw any glib, overarching conclusions. There is more than enough in her rigorous, precise reportage…for the reader to make his or her own connections.
— Peter Aspden - Financial Times

[An] intelligently written…refreshingly open-minded exploration.
— Washington Post

A terrific book—detailed, gossipy, and insightful…By the end of the book, you almost understand how [Steve] Cohen could shell out $8 million for a rotting 14-foot shark pickled in formaldehyde.
— BusinessWeek

A one-stop tutorial on an often insular subculture…light-hearted but sociologically acute.
— Time

Finely wrought and thoroughly researched…[with] an ingenious structure…and spot-on characterizations…the author draws readers into the experience…[with her] infectious curiosity and meticulous reporting.
— Annie Buckley - Artweek