The classic biographical novel about Vincent Van Gogh. Stone, in the end note, says that, aside from a few fictional scenes, "... the book is entirely true." He based his fictional account of Van Gogh's life on his letters, which were saved by his brother, Theo Van Gogh.
The facts may be true, but there is certainly a spin placed on the interpretation of those facts by the author. The novel spends most of it's time and energy on Van Gogh's early life - his failed love affair in England, his attempt to be an Evangelist, his early training as an artist. Throughout he is described as someone who takes a passionate love for something to an extreme.
The most interesting period of his life is his time in the south of France when he first had his "attacks" and when he had his most creative period. Sloan seems to say that Van Gogh's illness was epilepsy that started late in middle age, exacerbated by the absinthe that he drank and his years of near starvation.
If you've seen the excellent movie of the same title based on the book with Kirk Douglas then it's difficult not to picture Van Gogh as Kirk Douglas or vice versa!
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