Art fakes and how to detect them - a fascinating subject. Hoving has all the credentials and experience, yet his book is disappointing. A gee-whiz journalistic style, plenty of chutzpah and bragging, some snide comments about colleagues and competitors, gossip here and there among the name-dropping. He wants you to think that even after the many forgeries which have been detected, there are many many more on the walls of museums and in the glass cases of art dealers. And the experts are the real sleuths, not such things as X-ray (and other) analytic techniques.
It has a lot of information but is ultimately a superficial book. Not once does Hoving discuss the thorny and fascinating questions, such as - when paintings A and B are quite indistinguishable, what happens when it is conclusively shown that B is a fake- to you, to the painting's significance, to its "value" (financial or otherwise) - and why.

For someone like myself who is not really into art theory but is interested in this topic it was very readable. The author clearly knows the subject and talks with authority, although he does makes frequent references to Fake!, another work on the subject. The only thing that I think would have improved the book would have been some more photos of fakes, preferably with some authentic works to compare them to. Perhaps even with some sort of diagramming to illustrate specific mistakes mentioned in the book. Certainly an eye-opener!

I've read some of Hoving's memoirs, but this is the first time I've read a book by him that is (mostly) about something other than Hoving. His account of the history of art forgery is really compelling, although stronger in the later chapters when he is talking about things he knows from personal experience. Some of the earlier material seems to bore him a little because he can't wedge himself into the narrative, but once he hits his stride, he really produces a great read. Highly recommend.

A narrow book for a wide-range art specialists. Needs to be supplemented with other Amazon 4-5 books concerning the problem of forgery.

This cat definately knows the ins and outs of the art world. If for no other reason, this book is worth the money.