This is a fun novel in which Christopher Moore imagines a rollicking tale that revolves around the Paris art scene, circa 1860-1870. The main character is the completely fictional Lucien Lessard, but he is surrounded by many real artists of the time--Pissaro, Cezanne, Renoir, Manet, Seurat, Monet, Degas, and especially Toulouse-Lautrec. The novel begins with the tragic death of Vincent van Gogh, which Moore infuses with mystery; in this novel, his death is not suicide.

Moore creates a magical, time traveling story about a colorman, a muse (who does indeed amuse), and the world's most famous artists that is both funny and inspiring--funny in its humor, inspiring in that it's made me want to read more about some of these artists. The last section Moore writes is "Afterward: So, Now You've Ruined Art," in which the author conscientiously reveals to us the liberties he's taken with the characters and some of the research he'd done before penning this creative tome, and it's not to be missed.

Educational and entertaining! I enjoyed this very much.