The charming collection Artists & Authors organizes 18 essays into a cohesive whole, with Charles Scribner III (Sacred Muse; Scribners) covering the gamut of publishing tales, art history musings (plus a heist!), and reflections on classical music.
Readers will savor the stories of Scribner's grandfather's relationship with Ernest Hemingway, who wrote that the man knew "a good deal about horses, as much as a man probably should be allowed to know about the publishing business, and surprisingly, something about books." Scribner also considers the early works of F. Scott Fitzgerald that he believes contributed to the artistry and longevity of The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald even offered writing advice in a letter to his daughter, Scottie: "If you have anything to say... you have got to feel it so desperately that you will find some way to say it that nobody has ever found before."
Additionally, Scribner describes his admiration for and the expertise of Caravaggio, Peter Paul Rubens, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and Michelangelo. In "Rubens Meets Miami Vice," he relates his entertaining role as a witness in a trial involving the 1985 heist of two Rubens paintings. He ventures into "The Vocal Arts," making Franz Joseph Haydn, Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart approachable. The highlight is a chapter devoted to Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (based on his interviews for a piece for Opera News); she is both "the greatest singer of Mozart for the second half of the past century" and an old friend whom he meets near Hemingway's old Austrian stomping grounds. Their conversation is a veritable master class in singing and playing piano.
Altogether, these pieces impart Scribner's warmth, knowledge, and lifelong passion as an invitation to share his enthusiasm. --Jennifer M. Brown