All That Glitters

Studded with blue-chip names, multi-million-dollar paintings, private jets and bottles of Dom Pérignon '08, this tantalizing glimpse by a former dealer into the art world's most rarefied stratum doubles as a cautionary tale about a largely unregulated industry where hubris, greed and fraud abound * New York Times *
Exhilarating... Orlando Whitfield tells the story of his former friend's downfall in thrilling detail... Compulsively readable -- Kathryn Hughes * Guardian *
A lacerating critique of the contemporary art market ... All That Glitters is as compulsive as a thriller. It is literary dynamite - a blazing exposé that cracks open an elite sphere cloaked in mystery and lays it mercilessly bare * Spectator *
A jaw-dropping romp through the absurd world of art dealing... All That Glitters is a hell of a read. * Irish Independent on Sunday *
Educational, entertaining and very enjoyable -- Marian Keyes
This is "Liar's Poker" for the art world. * The Economist *
A frank account of an unequal art-world friendship ... Whitfield strives to convey the absurdity and frivolity of the international art market, and the boundless opportunities for criminality its atmosphere creates -- Rosa Lyster * New Yorker *
The culture of discretion that enshrouds the art market obscures a multitude of sins, so it is bracing (and great fun) to watch Orlando Whitfield flout the code of silence to name names, cite prices, and reveal scams. All That Glitters is an art world GREAT GATSBY, deliciously withering and dishy, a parable about the price of beauty, the power of charisma, and the limits of friendship. -- Patrick Radden Keefe, author of * Empire of Pain *
An elegy for a friendship ... exceptionally accomplished ... Whitfield exposes the dubious financial mores of the very highest end of the contemporary market * Times Literary Supplement *
A highly readable and perceptive account of how contemporary art is bought and sold -- Philip Hook * Sunday Telegraph *
Ultra-vivid ... it reads like a true crime documentary * i Paper, Nonfiction Book of the Month *
Readers drawn to the book's promise of an insider's recollections of the art-dealing ecosystem will not be disappointed * The Art Newspaper *
Whitfield writes beguilingly and amusingly, enhanced by an art dealer's eye ... made me laugh out loud -- Nancy Durrant * Evening Standard *
The art world revealed in this delicious, sharp and often breathtaking memoir is one of excess and illusion those of us outside it can barely imagine, and Whitfield unveils it nimbly and wisely. Funny, juicy, wistful and sad, it's destined to be one of the books of 2024 -- Megan Nolan, author * Ordinary Human Failings *
Philbrick's story serves as a means for Whitfield masterfully to illuminate the opaque and mysterious art world for readers, explaining the shady operations of the commercial gallery system, the role and place of auction houses and, above all, the transformation of art into an asset class and a vehicle for investment: a mere entry on a ledger. For anybody curious to learn the grubby reality of the art market, Whitfield's memoir makes for essential reading. -- Matthew Mason * The Tablet *
Completely jaw-dropping and unputdownable -- 'The best new books to read in May 2024' * i News *
Explosive ... the inside story of the biggest art fraud in American history * Guardian *
The book of the year * The Fence *
One of the hottest memoirs of 2024 * Sunday Times Style *
A jaw-dropping, riveting true-crime memoir -- 'The 30 Best Books for Summer' * i Paper *