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The Man Who Stole the Mona Lisa
Atria
July 2008
On Sale: July 15, 2008
Featuring: Eduardo de Valfierno
352 pages
ISBN: 0743297938
EAN: 9780743297936
Hardcover
$24.00
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Historical
On August 22, 1911, the world was shocked by an audacious
crime: Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa was stolen from the
Louvre. Although some people suspected subversive artists
like Picasso or Apollinaire of perpetrating the theft, no
arrests were made. Two years later, an Italian named
Vincenzo Perugia was detained after attempting to sell the
Mona Lisa to an antiques dealer in Florence -- but the
mystery of the theft itself was never satisfactorily
resolved. In his spellbinding novel Valfierno,
MartÃn Caparrós tackles this enigma, presenting us with a
fascinating criminal unable to go to his grave without
divulging the details of his outrageous heist. In
tantalizing conversations with an American journalist, the
Marqués de Valfierno sheds light on his past secrets,
including his sordid origins as Bollino, son of a Buenos
Aires servant woman, a man ultimately transformed into the
most notorious con artist in the world. A sly and consummate
entertainer, Valfierno reveals the shifting identities of
the anonymous Argentine boy who has gone on to become a
veritable artist, creating for himself the perfect role of
wealthy aristocrat in Belle Époque Paris as he prepares for
his crime. Featuring an engaging cat-and-mouse drama and
unforgettable characters, Valfierno is a brilliant
fictional-ization of the greatest theft of the twentieth
century, as well as a compelling psychological portrait of a
true mastermind. Valfierno, Caparrós's eighth novel,
won the prestigious Premio Planeta award in 2004.
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