Enigma Variations

by Richard Price, Sally Price, Richard Price

Book Overview

In a steamy colonial city, an eccentric Frenchman offers for sale an extraordinary collection of primitive art. The two anthropologists called in to appraise the pieces for the national museum quickly find themselves in a murky world where the boundaries of authenticity and deception blur in the tropical heat. What begins as an intellectual puzzle threatens to turn into a deadly confrontation.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 067425726X
• ISBN13: 9780674257269
• Release Date: June 1995
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 164 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.2" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Suspenseful Cultural Anthropology - A New Genre

I had to continually remind myself that this remarkable story was indeed fiction and not a scholarly account of a factual occurrence. I had actually purchased this book believing it to be a descriptive work of field anthropology. Enigma Variations was published by Harvard University Press, the authors acknowledged their fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities, every page is illustrated with scanned images of Saramakan art objects, and the footnotes referenced genuine scholarly publications. I did not immediately realize that this fascinating story was actually a rare blend of cultural anthropology and suspenseful fiction. Richard Price and Sally Price have individually and jointly published scholarly works with titles like Stedman's Surinam: Life in an Eighteenth Century Slave Society, The Guiana Maroons, Primitive Art in Civilized Places, and Saramaka Social Structure. According to the book cover, they divide their time between rural Martinique and the College of William and Mary in Virginia. In this short novel two anthropologists are asked to appraise a remarkable set of museum quality Saramakan musical instruments that are offered for sale. In following their investigations we readers learn about art smuggling, art renovation, and art forgery, and gradually discover that the ethical distinction between original and forged art can become quite blurred. Enigma Variations is an exceptional book that defines an entirely new genre. I highly recommend this fascinating work. Curiosity: This soft cover publication by Harvard University Press is printed on high quality, vanilla colored paper. The pages were bound backward in my discounted copy.

An unexpected pleasure

Richard and Sally Price are practicing anthropologists who have written a novel about some of the non-academic aspects of their work. Based on their real experiences, this book describes a detective hunt to establish the authenticity of some South American tribal and slave artifacts. But a simple yes/no question quickly blurs into shades of grey as they worm their way through collectors who 'restore' pieces, native carvers who mix styles to please buyers and museum officials trying to justify monies spent.The book provides a fascinating philosophical discussion of authenticity and the differences between the way the art world and the academic world define it. Every page includes a photograph of an artifact discussed in the story, only at the end do we get a glimpse of which were genuine and which were not.I expected a quick read and got a picture of a world I've never seen before. A boundary stretching book that holds your attention with personal narrative. I'll never look at a native mask or bowl the same way again.