
The $12 Million Stuffed Shark
The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art
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Narrated by:
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Adam Verner
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By:
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Don Thompson
Why would a smart New York investment banker pay $12 million for the decaying, stuffed carcass of a shark? By what alchemy does Jackson Pollock's drip painting "No. 5, 1948" sell for $140 million?
Intriguing and entertaining, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark is a Freakonomics approach to the economics and psychology of the contemporary art world. Why were record prices achieved at auction for works by 131 contemporary artists in 2006 alone, with astonishing new heights reached in 2007? Don Thompson explores the money, lust, and self-aggrandizement of the art world in an attempt to determine what makes a particular work valuable while others are ignored.
This book is the first to look at the economics and the marketing strategies that enable the modern art market to generate such astronomical prices. Drawing on interviews with both past and present executives of auction houses and art dealerships, artists, and the buyers who move the market, Thompson launches the listener on a journey of discovery through the peculiar world of modern art. Surprising, passionate, gossipy, and revelatory, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark reveals a great deal that even experienced auction purchasers do not know.
©2008 Don Thompson (P)2017 TantorListeners also enjoyed...




















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and whats great is that there is no prior knowledge required, the author lays it all out in a very accessible way! I highly recommend this book
A fun educational listen
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Peeking In Art Business
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Loved every minute of this book
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Freakonomics for the Art World
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Main downsides are that the book is detailed with lots of names and numbers, which can be tedious at time. The audiobook was perfect to fall asleep. Narrator is good (not amazing) and has terrible French prononciation; as a native French speaker I couldn’t even guess what he was saying it was so bad.
Insightful
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a fun look at art pricing
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Pretty good
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Dry but helpful
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Repetitive & Dry
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