I Was Vermeer: The Rise and Fall of the Twentieth Century's Greatest Forger by Frank Wynne (Bloomsbury)... For centuries, more than a few gifted artists have opted for forgery. As a result, many phony masterpieces adorn the world's art galleries and private collections. Wynne's book is about this offshoot school of art, and more particularly about the life and crimes of Han van Meegeren, a Dutch artist who, in addition to possessing prodigious abilities as a painter in oils, was familiar with the techniques employed and materials used by the Dutch Masters of yesteryear. Van Meegeren's career began in the late 1800s, at a time when the fledgling art of photography was rendering realism passe, Dada was rippling through Europe's arty intelligensia, and Picasso's creative toe was daintily dipping into the vast sea of artistic abstraction. It was a tough time to be a Dutch neo-realist, so instead van Meegeren bacame a forger, focusing mainly on the relatively little-known (at the time) Jan Vermeer. He was wildly successful, selling scads of fake Vermeers and other duplicitous works, and becoming a decadent, morphine-addicted millionaire before finally fessing up to his astonishing art hoaxes in order to defend himself against the post-WWII accusation that he had collaboratorily sold a genuine Vermeer to Nazi Reichsmarshall Hermann Goring! After a celebrity trial, van Meegeren died on the eve of his upcoming year-long slap-on-the-wrist incarceration in a Dutch prison! An unusual and thought-provoking true-crime work, with remarkable illustrations.

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson (Crown)...I've enjoyed Larson's work for quite some time, especially The Devil in the White City, and this effort is his best yet. Larson skillfully interweaves two stories (the exploits of mad British murderder Hawley Crippen, and the electronic misadventures of radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi) into one broader narrative which illuminates a turning point in humanity's ability to communicate and the authorities' enhanced power to exact even greater control over the populace. Lots of good historical trivia; a well-written and engrossing book.

The Nymphos of Rocky Flats by Mario Acevedo (Rayo/HarperCollins)... Extremely entertaining novel about a modern-day vampire (and Gulf War vet) who uses his undeadly skills as as independent sleuth, and finds himself investigating alien-inspired shenannigans at the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant and its environs, while defending himself from some determined vampire hunters. Lots of action, some hot sex, a few laughs, and best of all, an original plot!

The Art of S. Clay Wilson (Ten Speed Press)... and... Drawing Comics Is Easy (Except When It's Hard) by Alexa Kitchen (Denis Kitchen Publishing)...Both of these books showcase the work of gifted artists, so I read them at the same time, alternating sections. It would be hard to find two more disparate styles. The 174-page (with lots of color) Wilson compilation was published when he was 65 years old; Kitchen's handbook on how to draw comics was put together when she was seven! Wilson, creater of the Hog-ridin' Fools, Ruby the Dyke, Captain Piss-Gums, the Checkered Demon, and other alternative icons familiar to readers of underground comix, is immersed in a world of violence, gore, and sick sex. He's unrepentantly plied his craft for 50 years, and there's no one like him (except maybe Robert Williams, a little bit). Kitchen, on the other hand, exudes innocence and exhibits an almost genetic understanding of cartooning. Both artists exemplify their respective art forms to the nth degree. They both have fans, and lots of them. Robert Crumb, for example, refers to Wilson's drawings as "...rough, crazy, lurid, coarse, deeply American...a nightmare vision of hell-on-earth never so graphically illustrated before in the history of art!" And of Kitchen, Crumb comments, "Her stuff is way exceptional." Wilson: jaded master of artistic rebellion. Kitchen: wunderkind, with a productive lifetime in graphic art beckoning her onward. Really, her simple renedrings remind me of Harvey Kurtzman's work as much as anyone's. Two exceptional artists, two great books.