A Bone of Fact (David Walsh, Pan Macmillan)

David Walsh is founder, owner and patron of Hobart’s MONA (Museum of Old and New Art). He is also a gambler, hedonist and self-described autodidact. A Bone of Fact is lavishly illustrated with images from Walsh’s life, with photographs and reproductions of his favourite artworks, many drawn from the collection at MONA. Like the man himself, Walsh’s memoir is bombastic and scurrilous. In short (three or four page) sections, Walsh tells of a life of obscene wealth, borderline legality and a deep and abiding love of art. The pages are peppered with allusions to art, literature and classical culture, along with prevaricating annotations, which alternately support and discredit the veracity of his musings. It reads like a deeply ironic Richard Branson memoir of success with David Foster Wallace-esque discursions. There is something of the Machiavellian trickster in Walsh’s surrender to pure pleasure and contentment to be ruled by physical and metaphysical desires, rather than legal or logical strictures. Thanks to its author’s pre-existing notoriety, A Bone of Fact will be of interest to both lovers and casual observers of the art world. Pre-existing opinions of Walsh as a reckless, eccentric genius are likely to be confirmed. 

Veronica Sullivan is a bookseller and deputy online editor of Kill Your Darling