A Bone of Fact

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David Walsh the creator of Mona in Hobart is both a giant and an enigma in the Australian art world A multi millionaire who made his money gambling, David has turned a wild vision into a unique reality he is in turns controversial, mysterious and idolised A Bone of Fact is his utterly unconventional and absorbing memoir, about which he says By some great good fortune mine, not yours you hold in your hands my story, credible I think, but not extraordinary despite what those avaricious publishers might have you believe I have captured your attention maybe you have some resonance with Mona, or maybe good graphical design partly seized your day To extract 55 bucks from you I need to say something clever, but I can t think of anything So I ll seduce you with a tale of another, cleverer, writer Stanislaw Lem, noted Polish science fiction author and notorious smartarse, once told an American colleague that his new collection of short stories would be published in a paper bag This conjured a mental picture of the stories being selected by lucky dip The idea that my life story could be told that way, without a disabling manifesto, is appealing.Unfortunately Mr Lem had actually said paperback his meaning concealed beneath his thick accent , a wholly ordinary practice to deliver extraordinary stories My story lacks Mr Lem s magical reality and philosophy, and it also lacks a paper bag You should buy it anyway, if you are at least mildly curious as to why I want you to give me money, even though I m already rich But if you happen to read Polish you could probably do better reading Lem Incidentally, Polish is one of the few words that changes its pronunciation when you change the first letter from upper case to lower case If you are in Natal or Nice you can probably think of another But surely, if you are in Natal or Nice you have better things to do than lurk in bookshops Get out of here, but take me with you I promise to treat you nice But not so nice that you ll need to go to a natal clinic. Read A Bone of Fact – kino-fada.fr Mona Gr8David Walsh InterestingA Bone of Fact WankFor those who have been to MONA this a must read A chance to understand the mind of a gambler who has established an international standard private art museum for the people of Tasmania.As befitting of the man who established Hobart s Mona, this chunky book is beautifully made The page edges have been gilded and the title s lettering handsomely indented on the solid black grey cover Fingering the high quality paper is a sneaky pleasure There are many small black white photographs and some superb colour photographs of Mona and various artworks If you like digressions then this is a book for you David Walsh has produced a narrative of his life with many digressions into As befitting of the man who established Hobart s Mona, this chunky book is beautifully made The page edges have been gilded and the title s lettering handsomely indented on the solid black grey cover Fingering the high quality paper is a sneaky pleasure There are many small black white photographs and some superb colour photographs of Mona and various artworks If you like digressions then this is a book for you David Walsh has produced a narrative of his life with many digressions into topics such as gambling, beauty, architecture, prob...I m not that much into biography but launched on this on the recommendation of someone who had been to Walsh s MONA gallery in Hobart My enthusiasm rapidly increased in the first few, mostly short, chapters Walsh endeared himself by confessing his adopted style owed a lot to Kurt Vonnegut of whom I m a long time fan there s a bit of Mark Twain as well I feel again endeared thought how much does Vonnegut owe to Twain The structure of this biography is unique in my experience consistin I m not that much into biography but launched on this on the recommendation of someone who had been to Walsh s MONA gallery in Hobart My enthusiasm rapidly increased in t...TheI read of this book theI wondered why I was bothering Found the first part around David s childhood interesting but my interest waned as the topics wandered around in an attempt to pad things out into a book length collection It is a beautifully presented ...I am in awe of his intellect Art, science, maths and Philosophy with unique insights into each.Enjoyable read I didn t know anything about art, but I learned a bit Now I know what I don t know Ignorance comes in many guises The most significant of these, the unknown unknowns remain unknown to me We struggle with ourselves and the biggest struggle is the failure to understand that everyone struggles I think conclusions should be temporary, tentative, provisional An idea should be tossed out when a body of evidence emerges that s of sufficient stature to support an alternative conclu Enjoyable read I didn t know anything about art, but I learned a bit Now I know what I don t know Ignorance comes in many guises The most significant of these, the unknown unknowns remain unknown to me We struggle with ourselves and the biggest struggle is the failure to understand that everyone struggles I think conclusions should be temporary, tentative, provisional An idea should be tossed out when a body of evidence emerges that s of sufficient stature to support an alternative conclusion I believe that if there s one thing that make...Like a series of not quite essays from the smartest person you know, the kind who s just as likely to go on about Euler s theorem as going to Korea to test his blackjack gambling strategy, or randomly tell you every person he s slept with, or talk about bacterial life or art that makes shit literally or the failings of Aristotle or getting seats for a sold out Madonna show in Vegas from a guy he hates By turns overwhelming, uncomfortably revealing, hugely insightful, and kind of frustrating i Like a series of not quite essays from the smartest person you know, the kind who s just as likely to go on about Euler s theorem as going to Korea to test his blackjack gambling strategy, or randomly tell you every person he s slept with, or talk about bacterial life or art that makes shit literally or the failings of Aristotle or getting seats for a sold out Madonna show in Vegas from a guy he hates By turns overwhelming, uncomfortably revealing, hugely insightful, and kind of frustrating in its flights off random tangents by which I mean tangents I m not smart enough to appreciate the significance of I bought it because I went to MONA the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, Australia and it str...I both love and hate the irony of a lapsed Catholic writing a book designed to mimic a bible This is the most physically awkward book I ve ever read It s size and hardcover put me off reading it for a very long time, and slowed down my reading considerably Much of the time I spent reading this book I was quietly cursing Walsh for this biblical design Despite the physical challenges the book presents, I enjoyed it immensely I appreciate Walsh s honesty, his writing style and the structure of I both love and hate the irony of a lapsed Catholic writing a book designed to mimic a bible This is the most physically awkward book I ve ever read It s size and hardcover put me off reading it for a very long time, and slowed down my reading considerably Much of the time I spent...3.5 5 I had been reading this on and off for 18 months and ultimately found that the key to completing the book was to roll my my eyes at the large chunks of chapters that felt like padding and faff and dart through to the very interesting bits about the formation of Mona and some parts Walsh s life I got a bit tired reading about the author...

A Bone of Fact
  • English
  • 15 January 2017
  • Hardcover
  • 384 pages
  • 1742612911
  • David Walsh
  • A Bone of Fact