{"product_id":"shadowing-botticellis-beauty-9780595506774","title":"Shadowing Botticelli's Beauty","description":"A suspenseful tale of Borgesian circularity, \u003ci\u003eShadowing Botticelli's Beauty\u003c\/i\u003e features an unusual cast drawn from three distinct spheres: C.I.A. operatives running sensitive operations during the Cold War; players from the art world among them a painter-architect based in Buenos Aires, and from ages past, the Renaissance master, Sandro Botticelli; and colorful inhabitants of an elite, New England prep school. But throughout this sinuous tale of intrigue, there is the constancy of \"Abel Baaker Charlie: \" devoted husband; journeyman case officer; apprentice school master; autodidactic painter; and, last but not least, self-appointed art detective. While weathering the chaos of revolutions, personal tragedies, identity crises, a treacherous colleague, and radical career shifts, the novel's dauntless protagonist tenaciously stalks a lost masterpiece looted by a Nazi war criminal in the closing days of World War II. Baaker's story, which has a basis in fact, is told with the assuredness of a veteran insider privy to the clandestine realm of spies, the arcane province of art historians, and the twisted turf of private boarding schools. While making for a fine read, with its rewarding resolution, \u003ci\u003eShadowing Botticelli's Beauty\u003c\/i\u003e ponders the opposing roles of chance and grand design in the destiny of its memorable characters.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e iUniverse\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/17\/2008\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780595506774\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 312\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.01lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.70d","brand":"Caleb Ives Bach","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":36639242059932,"sku":"9780595506774","price":16.11,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/shadowing-botticellis-beauty-9780595506774","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}