Tim Pingelton

Hola! My name is Luis, and I live in an art museum in a town called Tarapoto, Peru with my mother and sister, Maria. The museum is on the bottom floor, and we live above it on the second floor. The museum is called Museo Cautivador, which means "captivating museum" in English. My mom, who I call Mami, knows a lot about art, and people all over the world know her. She runs the museum; this job is called a curator, and it means that she also picks out the art to show. There isn't much permanent art in the museum, but Mami's friends like to bring art from their museums and show it for a while at Museo Cautivador.

The art is not just painting but also sculpture, textiles, or even architecture. And sometimes we show one kind of art or one style but have examples from all over the world.

I wrote these letters to sharing exciting and mysterious stories of the visiting exhibitions we have at the museum. You might even learn something, like I did. -Tim

Art Appreciation is a novel that sprang from an incident in my life when I was 16 years old.  I had just gotten my driver's license in January, and my mother and I drove to her birthplace in Northwest Iowa.  She let me drive most of the way.  I had an annoying speech stutter at that time, and, as I paid for snacks at a convenience store, I chatted with the cute cashier.  I spoke in a bad British accent because I didn't stutter then, and, when she asked me what part of England I was from, I said, "London," grabbed the bag of chips and got out of there.  The protagonist in my novel had a similar solution to his stutter, but, on a European trip to somehow justify his accent, he ended up stealing a few paintings from an art museum in Amsterdam.  A confused free-spirit, this act introduced him into the art theft world back in the States in Boston.

Important events further shape Dam's and the underworld business' life, and dramatic changes in both put Dam on the path of a more honest existence—on his terms.  There are moments of thrilling chase, interesting glimpses into Dam's singular character, and a clever solution to return to being true to himself.

Print and electronic version are available.

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This insightful guide provides excerpts, quotes, and critical analysis of Hemingway’s novels and short stories in the context of his fascinating and ultimately tragic personal life.