16th century (7) 17th century (8) 20th century (5) art (109) art history (46) artists (11) Australia (6) Australian literature (5) Baroque (7) biography (142) Brazil (52) corruption (8) crime (16) culture (12) European History (6) fiction (18) food (12) history (121) Italian (7) Italian History (21) Italy (130) literature (8) mafia (44) memoir (21) Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1573-1610) (51) Naples (18) non-fiction (90) organized crime (8) painters (6) painting (11) politics (21) Renaissance (19) Rome (8) Sicily (64) South America (11) to-read (48) travel (94) travel literature (5) travel writing (5) unread (13)

Common Knowledge

Birthdate: 1946
Gender: male
Nationality: Australia
Birthplace: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Places of residence: New Zealand
Naples, Italy
Brazil
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Occupations: teacher
writer
author

Members

Reviews

Midnight In Sicily: On Art, Feed, History, Travel… by Peter Robb

For some reason I thought this was an armchair travel book, heavy on descriptions of indulgent meals and gorgeous Sicilian scenery. It's actually a book about the Mafia, which would be fine but not what I was wanting. Also, the narrative jumps around a lot, so it's hard to tell what happened when or what influenced what other thing.

Flagged

blueskygreentrees | 8 other reviews | Jul 30, 2023 |

M : The Man Who Became Caravaggio by Peter Robb

Once you got used to Robb's style it is an interesting read. It gave me a new appreciation for Caravaggio's work. I read part of it in Naples and saw The 'Seven Acts of Mercy' and 'Transfixion of Ursula' while there ans the book made me seek out others on the internet.

Though recent news about discoveries of Caravaggio's death (i.e. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(18)30571-1/fullt... puts paid to some of the speculation in the final chapter, so little is known about the artist that anyone writing about him will be tempted to fill in gaps.… (more)

Flagged

dylkit | 6 other reviews | Jul 16, 2022 |

M: The man who became Caravaggio by Peter Robb

Deliciously gossipy biography in a vividly journalistic style. Robb has certain quirks and takes a defiantly back-to-basics approach. Unable to find the name that contemporaries universally used for Caravaggio, he refers to him as 'M' throughout; and he gives the paintings crisp, curt titles. Caravaggio swaggers through these pages: devil-may-care, quick for a fight and sexually omniverous. It's the kind of book people either love or hate. I happen to love it for the way it utterly disregards conventional artist biography; and it's impossible to find a book which better evokes the brutally violent world of backstreet 17th-century Rome.… (more)

Flagged

TheIdleWoman | 6 other reviews | Dec 8, 2017 |