Seven Days in the Art World Book

From London to Beijing to New York, art sales are booming, and the art world receives the sort of breathless media attention once reserved for celebrities and royals. In Seven Days in the Art World, Sarah Thornton, a brilliant young sociologist, looks at all aspects of buying, selling, and creating serious art. Thornton has exceptional access, and brings a keen critical eye to her coverage of this glamorous milieu, offering the first authoritative account of what is now a multi-billion dollar global marketplace-cum-playground for an ever-expanding number of collectors, investors, and enthusiasts.

A riveting tour through the international art market, conducted by a smart, funny industry insider. Contemporary art has become a mass entertainment, a luxury good, a job description and, for some, a kind of alternative religion. Sarah Thornton's...