Recommended readings (Part I)

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"Dear M: Letters from a Gentleman of Excess"
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I accidently came across this book years ago when I was searching for a title by the Abstract Expressionist, American painter Jackson Pollock. What I got instead was an intimate portrayal of a gay Canadian art dealer in the early 1970's.
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This book is written in diary format and is an important book because it navigates the discovery of Norval Morrisseau, an Ojibwa artist that has become one of Canada's most important living painters. Jack Pollock talks about his first meeting with Norval and the their eventual travels across Canada, which Norval always kept very interesting.
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Norval Morrisseau was having problems with alcohol at the time and was arrested during the writing of this book, a day after Norval's release from prison the National Film Board of Canada began interviewing Norval and Jack for a film called "The Paradox of Norval Morrisseau" which makes an interesting companion to "Dear M: Letters from a Gentleman of Excess". Jack Pollock's book is a good read on many levels. It gives insight to the formative years of the Toronto art scene in the 1960's. It gives it's reader uncensored insight into the lifestyle of a gay man living with several addictions and acts as an important historical document to the formative years of Norval Morrisseau.
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I am sure you will enjoy it.
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A Customer of www.amazon.com
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* "Dear M: Letters from a Gentleman of Excess" by Jack Pollock; Toronto, McClelland & Stewart, 1989 - ISBN 0-7710-7027-6