Most Popular Books by Steven Naifeh

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “The definitive biography for decades to come.”—Leo Jansen, curator, the Van Gogh Museum, and co-editor of Vincent van Gogh: The Complete Letters Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, who galvanized readers with their Pulitzer Prize–winning biography of Jackson Pollock, have written another tour de force—an exquisitely detailed, compellingly readable portrait of Vincent van Gogh. Working with the full cooperation of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Naifeh and Smith have accessed a wealth of previously untapped materials to bring a crucial understanding to the larger-than-life mythology of this great artist: his early struggles to find his place in the world; his intense relationship with his brother Theo; and his move to Provence, where he painted some of the best-loved works in Western art. The authors also shed new light on many unexplored aspects of Van Gogh’s inner world: his erratic and tumultuous romantic life; his bouts of depression and mental illness; and the cloudy circumstances surrounding his death at the age of thirty-seven. Though countless books have been written about Van Gogh, no serious, ambitious examination of his life has been attempted in more than seventy years. Naifeh and Smith have re-created Van Gogh’s life with an astounding vividness and psychological acuity that bring a completely new and sympathetic understanding to this unique artistic genius. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • The Washington Post • The Wall Street Journal • San Francisco Chronicle • NPR • The Economist • Newsday • BookReporter “In their magisterial new biography, Van Gogh: The Life, Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith provide a guided tour through the personal world and work of that Dutch painter, shining a bright light on the evolution of his art. . . . What [the authors] capture so powerfully is Van Gogh’s extraordinary will to learn, to persevere against the odds.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times “Brilliant . . . Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith are the big-game hunters of modern art history. . . . [Van Gogh] rushes along on a tide of research. . . . At once a model of scholarship and an emotive, pacy chunk of hagiography.”—Martin Herbert, The Daily Telegraph (London)

The compelling story of how Vincent van Gogh developed his audacious, iconic style by immersing himself in the work of others, featuring hundreds of paintings by Van Gogh as well as the artists who inspired him—from the New York Times bestselling co-author of Van Gogh: The Life “Important . . . inspires us to look at Van Gogh and his art afresh.”—Dr. Chris Stolwijk, general director, RKD–Netherlands Institute for Art History Vincent van Gogh’s paintings look utterly unique—his vivid palette and boldly interpretive portraits are unmistakably his. Yet however revolutionary his style may have been, it was actually built on a strong foundation of paintings by other artists, both his contemporaries and those who came before him. Now, drawing on Van Gogh’s own thoughtful and often profound comments about the painters he venerated, Steven Naifeh gives a gripping account of the artist’s deep engagement with their work. We see Van Gogh’s gradual discovery of the subjects he would make famous, from wheat fields to sunflowers. We watch him experimenting with the loose brushwork and bright colors used by Édouard Manet, studying the Pointillist dots used by Georges Seurat, and emulating the powerful depictions of the peasant farmers painted by Jean-François Millet, all vividly illustrated in nearly three hundred full-color images of works by Van Gogh and a variety of other major artists, including Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, positioned side by side. Thanks to the vast correspondence from Van Gogh to his beloved brother, Theo, Naifeh, a Pulitzer Prize winner, is able to reconstruct Van Gogh’s artistic world from within. Observed in eloquent prose that is as compelling as it is authoritative, Van Gogh and the Artists He Loved enables us to share the artist’s journey as he created his own daring, influential, and widely beloved body of work.

Story of Cullen Davis who believed money could buy anything, and his trial for murdering his twelve year old stepdaughter.

The true story of Danny Starrett, a serial killer and rapist raised by a seemingly-perfect family. Includes passages from his prison journal describing his crimes and their causes.

On October 15, 1985, two pipe bombs shook the calm of Salt Lake City, Utah, killing two people. The only link-both victims belonged to the Mormon Church. The next day, a third bomb was detonated in the parked car of church-going family man, Mark Hoffman. Incredibly, he survived. It wasn''t until authorities questioned the strangely evasive Hoffman that another, more shocking link between the victims emerged... It was the appearance of an alleged historic document that challenged the very bedrock of Mormon teaching, questioned the legitimacy of its founder, and threatened to disillusion millions of its faithful-unless the Mormon hierarchy buried the evidence.

Ten years ago, Gregory White Smith''s doctors gave him three months to live. He''s still here. Discover how he, and many others in this life-changing book, beat the odds and survived. The news was grim. Doctors at the prestigious Mayo Clinic told Greg Smith--young, handsome, and hard at work at the book that would one day win him a Pulitzer Prize--that he had an inoperable brain tumor. They gave him three months to live. Ten years later, Greg is fit, active, and managing his tumor with an experimental hormone therapy. Like Greg, the other courageous people in this book--whose illnesses range from cystic fibrosis to cancer--have returned from the threshold of death. They are all medical miracles. Now you can learn how they made those miracles happen. Not a survivor''s memoir, but a survivor''s handbook, this extraordinary book weaves the insights of doctors and the wisdom of patients into a road map anyone can follow out of the dark fears of dying. Discover: The one thing that makes the difference between life and death --taking control Practical steps to finding the best doctor and the best care Your own research...how to do it, why your life depends on it What you need to ask before beginning an experimental treatment Why even if there isn''t a cure now, there may be tomorrow--and how to live long enough to get it...and more

Michael Morgenstern asked women all over the country, from all walks of life, and discovered the answers men seek. Learn what women find sexy in a man; how to seduce with words; what is the secret all great lovers know about pleasing women; how you can tell from a woman''s kiss if she wants you take her to bed, and much more. "Will make life--sex life, anyway--easier for men and infinitely more pleasurable for women." COSMOPOLITAN From the Paperback edition.

Hailed in hardcover by booksellers, reviewers and dreamers addicted to Architectural Digest, here is the enchanting story of the trials and tribulations that two Pulitzer Prize-winning writers from Manhattan experience while renovating Joye Cottage, a 60-room pleasure palace in Aiken, South Carolina.

Based on interviews with more than 850 people, this biography profiles the troubled life of the enigmatic avant-garde artist whose controversial work changed the definition of modern art

Art Book

Vincent Willem van Gogh (1853?1890) nasceu num vilarejo fronteiriço nos confins pantanosos do sul da Holanda, filho primogênito de um modesto pastor protestante. Solitário e impetuoso desde criança, o artista fracassou em todas as tentativas de se fixar numa profissão ''respeitável''. Somente encontrou alívio parcial para seus anseios excruciantes na produção de milhares de desenhos e pinturas, ao mesmo tempo em que submergia na doença e na loucura. Steven Naifeh e Gregory White Smith apresentam nesta reconstituição biográfica uma visão que procura ser ao mesmo tempo erudita e apaixonada sobre o artista holandês. Os autores buscam esmiuçar o conturbado relacionamento com os pais, a amizade com o irmão Theo, a relação intensa com a religião, a errância entre diversas cidades, a vida sexual desregrada, o fracasso em vender suas obras, a amizade conturbada com Paul Gauguin, a loucura, a orelha mutilada - e sugere uma explicação para o suposto suicídio. Naifeh e Smith visam orientar o leitor com segurança através do intrincado labirinto de referências estéticas, literárias e religiosas que definiu sua curta existência. Desse modo, diversas imprecisões, bem como mitos há muito estabelecidos na fortuna crítica vangoghiana, procuram ser esclarecidos com sensibilidade humana e artística.

Selon d''éminents psychiatres, près de la moitié des mariages ratés sont dus à l''incapacité des maris d''exprimer leurs sentiments. Pour ces derniers, " être un homme " signifie simplement être fort, combatif et invulnérable : une de leurs préoccupations majeures est donc de s''entourer d''une carapace faite de maîtrise de soi et de refoulement. Cet ouvrage nous révèle pourquoi les hommes restent si secrets et nous démontre que notre culture, en empêchant l''intimité, nourrit une peur profonde face à la dépendance et à la confiance. Ce livre apprend ensuite aux femmes à percer les défenses des hommes et à aider ceux-ci à retrouver la sincérité et la spontanéité de l''enfant qui se cache en eux. Si l''homme parvient à vaincre la peur de l''intimité, il s''épanouira pleinement et pourra entretenir une relation aussi durable que satisfaisante avec sa compagne.