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Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art and Life and Sudden Death Audiobook
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Publisher Description
Named a Top 100 Must-Read Book of the Year by Time and a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker * Winner of the 2024 Writers' Prize for Nonfiction * Shortlisted for the Inaugural Women’s Prize for Nonfiction * Longlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize
New York Times bestselling author Laura Cumming “combines first-rate art history with deeply felt memoir” (The Washington Post) in this fascinating, little-known story of the massive explosion in Holland that killed Carel Fabritius, renowned painter of The Goldfinch and A View of Delft and nearly killed Johannes Vermeer—two of the greatest artists of the 17th century.
“Exquisite.” —Simon Schama, The Guardian
As a brilliant art critic and historian, Laura Cumming has explored the importance of art in life and can give us a perspective on the time and place in which the artist worked. Now, through the lens of one dramatic event in 17th-century Holland, Cumming “has fashioned a book that combines memoir, art criticism, and history to illuminating effect” (The New York Times Book Review).
In 1654, the Thunderclap—an enormous explosion at a gunpowder store—devasted the city of Delft, killing hundreds of people, including the extraordinary painter Carel Fabritius, and injuring thousands more.
Framing the story around the life of Fabritius, Cumming illuminates this extraordinary moment in art history while also writing about her own father, a painter. Like Dutch art, the story gradually links country, city, town, street, house, interior—all the way to the bird on its perch, the blue and white tile, the smallest seed in a loaf of bread. The impact of a painting and how it can enter our thoughts, influence our view and understanding of the world is the heart of this book. Cumming has brought her unique eye to her most compelling subject yet.
Featuring beautiful full-color images of Dutch paintings throughout, this is “a glorious tribute to the two men who showed her the truth of the notion that paintings offer ‘a land in themselves, a society, a place to be’” (The Economist).
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“[With] spellbinding storytelling, Thunderclap is as deftly told as any thriller. It is also an astonishingly rich book about the glories that are revealed to us when we look at great paintings with careful attention, and an open heart…how a work of art can suddenly open our eyes in a thunderclap of clarity.”
— The Bookseller (London)
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“From shards of evidence, Cumming has created a nuanced portrait of an enigmatic artist whose works have profoundly affected her. Moving reflections rendered in precise, radiant prose.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review) -
“In this vivid history of the golden age of Dutch painting and elegant and luminous work, Cumming writes with deep feeling and knowledge about how ‘pictures can shore you up, remind you who you are and what you stand for.’ Art lovers will be enthralled.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“You are never going to read a better book about the experience of art—and of love.”
— Philip Hoare, author of Albert and the Whale
Awards
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Longlisted for the Women's Prize
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A Time Magazine Best Book of the Year
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A New Yorker Best Books of the Year Pick
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About Laura Cumming
Laura Cumming is the author of The Vanishing Velazquez which was long-listed for the Bailie Gifford Prize. She has been the art critic of the London Observer since 1999. Previously, she was arts editor of the New Statesman, literary editor of the Listener, and deputy editor of Literary Review. She has contributed to the London Evening Standard, the Guardian, L’Express, and Vogue.