The Great Man

The Great Man (2007) by Kate Christensen. A novel about a 20th-century artist (fictional) named Oscar Feldman, and the women he loved. At the beginning of the book, Feldman is dead, and the focus of the narrative is on the women who were involved with him -- his wife, Abigail, his mistress, Teddy, and his sister, Maxine, with whom he had a healthy sibling rivalry. Their stories are all intertwined, and the plot hinges on a bet between Oscar and Maxine, over who could most successfully paint a canvas in imitation of the other's style. It's an interesting story, and well told, but it's mostly about the inner lives of old women, which I found hard to relate to. Grade: B