Light on Fire

""Quality research supplies a dramatis personae that's a hit list of 20th-century art giants. . . . An engaging read, avoiding hagiography. This biography of a mercurial rogue has something to amuse or annoy most aficionados.""  * Library Journal * ""Selz’s engaging book gamely takes readers along for the ride as Francis hops between countries, lovers, and commissions, eternally courting the change and drama that fueled his work. . . . Selz manages to capture the expansive, unwieldy story of Francis — a vivacious, ego-absorbed searcher — in both his intimate and larger-than-life moments."" * Hyperallergic * ""Selz's writing achieves a depth of feeling, marked sympathy, and a grasp of the man as well as the myth, with an insider's knowledge of his gigantic, imperfect life. Elegant and precise, her writing paints a captivating portrait of this complex artist."" * East Hampton Star * “Selz’s engaging book gamely takes readers along for the ride as Francis hops between countries, lovers, and commissions, eternally courting the change and drama that fueled his work. . . . Selz manages to capture the expansive, unwieldy story of Francis—a vivacious, ego-absorbed searcher—in both his intimate and larger-than-life moments.” * Hyperallergic * ""The first full biography of the artist, its existence is more than justified by the remarkable facts and dramatic episodes of Francis’s life. . . . Selz​ . . . succeeds at maintaining a scholarly distance, casting Francis as a highly imperfect if charismatic and larger-than-life character."" * Leonardo * ""Gabrielle Selz’s accomplished biography of American abstract artist Sam Francis, Light on Fire, investigates the artist-muse relationship . . .  obliquely . . . but with no less nuance. . . . Selz uses the case study of one 'genius' artist to deconstruct the very concept of artistic genius, at the core of which lies total emotional impotence. That emotional impotence, of course, wreaks havoc in their lives."" * Los Angeles Review of Books * ""About a quarter of the way into Gabrielle Selz’s Light on Fire: The Art and Life of San Francis, I found myself thinking: this book should be a movie. . . . Light on Fire delivers a riveting portrait of a man driven (and riven) by huge appetites: for painting, women, fame, family, philanthropy and, most of all, a desire to pierce the veil separating life and death. . . .The book unfolds like a page-turner.”   * Square Cylinder * “About a quarter of the way into Gabrielle Selz’s Light on Fire: The Art and Life of San Francis, I found myself thinking: this book should be a movie. . . . Light on Fire delivers a riveting portrait of a man driven (and riven) by huge appetites: for painting, women, fame, family, philanthropy and, most of all, a desire to pierce the veil separating life and death. . . . The book unfolds like a page-turner.” * Square Cylinder *  ""A comprehensive look into the life and work of a complex artist who played an important role in the history of American art."" * CHOICE *