Listen to this audiobook free with a 30-day trial. Go to http://hotaudiobook.com/free Title: The $12 Million Stuffed Shark Subtitle: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art Author: Don Thompson Narrator: Adam Verner Format: Unabridged Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins Language: English Release date: 02-07-17 Publisher: Tantor Audio Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 33 votes Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Visual Arts Publisher's Summary: 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. Critic Reviews: "[An] informative an occasionally hilarious look at the surreal contemporary art market...A clear-headed approach to a frequently high-pitched issue." ( Kirkus)