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Dali and I: The Surreal Story by Stan Lauryssens, Nero Books, Melbourne, 2008, 292pp, $27.95. ISBN 9781863952316.
By JEFFREY BROWN, Solicitor
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Stan Lauryssens is not an artist. He is not even an art expert. Despite the title, Dali and I is not concerned with the surrealist movement, nor is it a serious attempt to understand its most famous son, Salvador Dali. Dali and I is a book about money, and a very entertaining one at that.
» Click here and read the Australian review ...
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Prison: My Time Doing Time
Someone said to me: If no one bangs the drum, do it yourself. Wise words. Early this morning, the postman brought the spring/summer 2009 issue of Areté magazine, the Arts Tri-Quaterly published from Oxford, UK.
Areté has a list of contributors “any editor would do hoopla for”: Harold Pinter, Ian McEwan, William Boyd, Boris Pasternak, Tom Stoppard, Martin Amis, John Updike, David Lodge, David Hare, Salman Rushdie, Milan Kundera, …
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" ... Madrid III Valdemoro prison surrounded by soft, fluffy hills that looked like melting marzipan."
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Highlights of the now published spring/summer 2009 issue are Harold Pinter with a previously unpublished love poem, Tom Stoppard (a poem), Alexander Nurnberg on David Mamet, Craig Raine on William Golding and Ronald Harwood on playing squash with Harold Pinter. The magazine spectacularly opens with a 16-page real life account titled Prison: My Time Doing Time in which I recount in horrid detail the consequences of an extradition request filed through Interpol that landed me in the notorious Madrid III Valdemoro prison.
Pinter and William Golding of course were awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, Tom Stoppard got an Oscar for his Shakespeare in Love screenplay, Ronald Harwoord received an Oscar for Roman Polanski’s The Pianist and David Hare was twice Oscar nominated, for The Hours (starring Nicole Kidman) and The Reader (starring Kate Winslet).
I mean, am I in good company or what?
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SIMPLY DALÍ: FAKING IT
An eccentric Spanish artist whose name is synonymous with the Surrealist movement, Salvador Dali (1904-1989) created more than 1,500 paintings in his lifetime.
A former Belgian journalist, Stan Lauryssens became an art dealer specializing in fake Salvador Dali works. He was eventually arrested and incarcerated. His experiences spawned a book, “Dali and I, The Surreal Story” which is being made into a movie starring Al Pacino.
» Click here and read the interview ...
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"Sensational stuff. Fantastic" (The Daily Telegraph)
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British Dalí & I: The Surreal Story is out now from Mainstream/Random House. Hardback is priced Ł16.99 when pre-ordered here ...
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Readers' reviews on the Amazon page have been amazing so far.
"I read this book in one day. Fascinating. Shocking."
"Very interesting. Hope to see the film soon."
"My advice: read this book, it's a lot of fun."
“The art market is a dark circus of hope and deceit. Lauryssens provides us with an intimate portrait of Dalí, its mustachioed ringmaster: as eccentric as he is ingenious, as manipulative as he is fascinating.”---Noah Charney, author of The Art Thief
“A highly readable blend of memoir and picaresque, Stan Lauryssens’s book explores the differences between the genuine and the bogus, not only in the business of art, but more important, in human relationships.”---James Sexton, editor of Selected Letters of Aldous Huxley
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Now available: "Dali & I: The Surreal Story" by Stan Lauryssens
Thomas Dunne Books/St.Martin's Press
An extraordinary memoir of fortune, fraud, and the master of modern art
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Art dealer Stan Lauryssens made millions in modern art, but he sold only one name: Salvador Dali. The surrealist painter's work was a hot commodity for the newly rich, investors, and businessmen looking to launder their black market cash. Stan didn't mind looking the other way; he just hoped the buyers would look the other way as well. The artworks he sold came from some very shady sources. And he soon discovered that the shadiest source of all was Dali himself. The more successful Stan became, the closer he got to Dali's inner circle, until he found himself living next door to the aging artist. There, while Stan hid from Interpol's detectives, he learned more about Dali's secret history, the studio of artists who produced his work, and the money-making machine that kept Dali's extravagant lifestyle afloat long after his creativity became to flounder.
Dali & I offers a behind-the-scenes view of the commerce and conspiracy that can go hand-in-hand in the art world, written by a man who has been to the top only to discover it was no different than the bottom.
STAN LAURYSSENS was an art dealer specializing in works by Salvador Dali for over a decade. After spending time in prison for the sale of bogus Dali's, he turned to writing
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crime fiction. He won Belgium's Hercule Poirot Award in 2002 for best crime fiction of the year. He divides his time between Antwerp and London.
Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press also publishes Dan Brown, Arnaldur Indridason, Desmond Morris, Wilbur Smith and Michael Palin.
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Dali & I: The Surreal Story (US edition) was published July 8, 2008. To order from Amazon.com, click here...
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"Crass, callous, sordid and cynical—thus, utterly true to the spirit of Dalí and a certain bestseller."
---Kirkus Review
"It feels as a smooth fluid story. You do not even realize you are reading a crime novel. What Stan Lauryssens sets out to do, he does superbly well."
---Library Thing
Book reviews and other literary stuff
"A Belgian boy with easy morals and a smooth tongue, Lauryssens worked his way up from writing invented celebrity interviews to selling fake prints by Spanish surrealist master Salvador Dalí to swindling greedy suckers out of vast sums of money for fake or nonexistent works by Dalí."
---The Boston Globe
"I read this book in one day. Fascinating, shocking, and a lot of fun. Hope to see the film soon."
---Amazon.com
"Dalí & I " is so good. Stan Lauryssens is an excellent story teller.
---Scene4.com
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Now available worldwide: "Dalí Y Yo: Una historia surreal" in Spanish
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Fireworks even before publication: XL Semanal, the Sunday magazine with the highly popular ABC newspaper from Madrid (weekly print run: 2 million) publishes a 6 (six!) page interview "de puta madre" in which I am compared to "a European kind of Tom Ripley". Some highlights from the interview, in Spanish:
"Estafar a multimillonarios es algo totalmente adictivo."
"Vendí la Santa cena de Dalí por un millón de dolares. El magnate aceptó que, aunque estaba en un museo, el cuadro era suyo."
"Compraban sin conocer la obra. Ni siquiera les gustaban las pintuas de Dalí. Sólo se trataba de blanquear dinero."
» Read here the interview, buy the book and... enjoy!
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An International Seller ...
"Dalí & I" is now out in Japan, from Aspect Publishing. On the book's cover, Salvador Dalí seems to have a live rooster on his shoulder. The cover photograph was actually taken at Madame Tussaud's in Amsterdam, where the lifesize wax artist is flanked by Picasso on the left and Van Gogh on the right.
[ On the left a nice picture from Tokyo: my agent Philip Sane (right) with Kosei Takahira (in the middle, holding my book), president and CEO and Yoichi Miyazaki, editorial general manager from Aspect, my Japanese publisher. ]
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The first of two Chinese editions of Dalí & I: The Surreal Story is now on sale in Taiwan. In an e-mail, my Chinese editor tells me: "Dear Stan, We decided to go ahead with a more light-hearted cover because Taiwanese readers don't respond well to heavy and dark material. We feel that this great photo makes a very appealing cover and will draw in the most readers! Also please note that the Chinese title translates to Dali's 666 Signatures." Frankly, I think it's a great cover, though I look like a stand up comedian with the fake mustache and bulging eyes, don't I?
» Read here a nicely illustrated interview in The Guangzhou Daily, "one of the largest circulation newspapers in
China", according to the female reporter who contacted me.
Meanwhile, online bookstore sales of the Turkish edition of Dalí & I: The Surreal Story, titled "Dali ve Ben" in Turkish, have gone from the #31 spot on the Turkish Top-100 to #21 in a matter of days.
Latest result: Dali ve ben is now on #8 in Turkey. On another bestseller list, the book is on #2 ...
A mere two weeks after its publication date, Dali i ja, the Serbian edition of Dali & I: The Surreal Story, came in on 9 in the national book Top-20. In writing, foreign names and surnames are spelled phonetically in Serbian. Therefore, in Serbia I am no longer "Stan Lauryssens" but "Sten Lorisen". Dalí still is "Dali" though. On the cover, Dali i ja is labeled "internacionali bestseler".
In order to promote Czech and Slovak translations, I was in Prague and Bratislava for a couple of days. In Prague, I stayed in a very nice hotel that was Prague's most popular luxury whorehouse or bordel during the communist regime. Well, Zara and Armani have taken over the party's headquarters and communism in Prague is relegated to the stuffy, tiny Museum
of Communism on the first floor of a local McDonald's.
In Slovak, my title reads as Dalí & I: The (Sur)real Story, which I think is a nice twist and a great find.
Read here an interview, in Czech, as published in the highly popular DNES daily newspaper...
... and watch a dubbed live interview on Czech breakfast TV.
Jacket with broken egg shell and the eye sticking out in the middle is the Rumanian Dalí & I from Polirom that also publishes Irvine Welsh, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Graham Greene.
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Cillian Murphy is "Stan" in Dali & I: The Surreal Story
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cillian Murphy will be "Stan" (that's me, folks) in the upcoming Dali & I: The Surreal Story. Cillian Murphy is Irish of course, lives in London, was norminated for a Golden Globe Award and plays the villain in Batman Begins (opposite Katie Holmes). He is also in Cold Mountain (Nicole Kidman) and The Girl With the Pearl Earring (Scarlett Johansson). His starring role as an Irish revolutionary helped The Wind That Shakes The Barley (Ken Loach) win the 2006 Palme d'Or
at the Cannes Film Festival.
IESB.net had an exclusive interview with Cillian Murphy, who will star als "Stan Lauryssens" in the upcoming Dalí & I: The Surreal Story (2009). The 2-minute video interview can be viewed by clicking the image below.
Cillian Murphy Joins Al Pacino in 'Dali & I'
Cinematical - Santa Monica,CA,USA
The good parts keep coming for Cillian Murphy. The Hollywood Reporter tells us he will officially be starring opposite Al Pacino in the film adaptation of ...
See all stories on this topic
Cillian Murphy Joins Dali & I
ComingSoon.net - USA
Dali (Pacino) also developed a mentor-protege relationship with a young art dealer named Stan Lauryssens, who will be played by Murphy. The part of Gala, ...
See all stories on this topic
Cillian Murphy Stars in Dali & I: The Surreal Story
MovieWeb - USA
Pacino will be playing Dali, who develops a mentor-protege relationship with the young artist Stan Lauryssens (Murphy). Dali & I: The Surreal Story will ...
See all stories on this topic
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Al Pacino confirms Salvador Dalí biopic
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Al Pacino spoke to MTV News about portraying the 20th century painter
Salvador Dali in the upcoming film entitled "Dali & I: The Surreal Story"
based on my book.
"I really like that Salvador Dali idea," said Pacino of the biopic. "I
really feel that's a place I would like to get myself around to playing."
The movie will reunite Pacino with his "S1m0ne" director Andrew Niccol. "I
read Andrew Niccol's script. It's a terrific script. That's a role I've been
wanting to play for a while, and I think it's coming," explained Pacino.
Salvador Dali of course is best known for his wiry antenna-like moustache
and for his painting "The Persistence of Memory," which features several
melting clocks on the beach.
Foreign rights to my "Dali & I" book have now been sold to 22 countries,
among them China, Russia, Japan, Brazil... Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's
Press in New York acquired World English Rights.
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A revealing book about Dalí and his world ...
Foreign rights are handled by the Lennart Sane Agency. All requests and inquiries should be directed to Philip Sane at philip.sane@lennartsaneagency.com.
Foreign rights already sold to Russia (AST Publishers), Taiwan (PROPHET PRESS, the Eurasian Publishing Group), Czechia and Slovakia (FRAGMENT), Greece (PSICHOGIOS), Belgium and the Netherlands (MANTEAU/STANDAARD), Serbia (MEDIA II), Finland (Johnny Kniga Publishing), Portugal (Editora PRESENCA), Romania (POLIROM Editura), Turkey (APRIL Publishing), Hungary (PÉCSI DIREKT KFT. ALEXANDRA KIADÓJA), Brazil (EDIOURO Publicaçőes), China (THINKINGDOM MEDIA GROUP), Poland (BERTELSMANN MEDIA), Japan (ASPECT Publishing), France (ÉDITIONS DE L'ARCHIPEL), Spain (EDICIONES B), Korea (Random House Korea, Inc), Australia and New Zealand (BLACK Inc. BOOKS, an imprint of Schwartz Publishing/Penguin Books Australia), UK--United Kingdom (MAINSTREAM Publishing), Denmark (POLITIKENS FORLAG) and Germany (SEELIGER VERLAG).
THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS/St. MARTIN'S PRESS (New York) acquired World English Rights. In the words of Peter Joseph, Associate Editor: "I do believe that this book can find success in the realm of Hoax, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Catch Me If You Can. But with or without the film, I think that Stan’s written a revealing book about Dali and his world that I’d love the chance to publish and champion."
Tantor Unabridged Audiobooks
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Tantor Media (US) acquired USCP Audio rights for CD and MP3: "Publishers Weekly named Tantor Media the number one fastest-growing independent publisher. Tantor has a dedicated library department, and releases over twenty new titles each month, including classics, award-winners, and bestsellers."
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To Pre-order (7 Audio CD's, 1 Mp3-CD, 8hrs 30 min in all) click here...
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Leonardo DiCaprio in
Catch Me If You Can
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George Clooney
in Confessions of
a Dangerous Mind
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Richard Gere
in Hoax
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Dalí & I del escritor belga Stan Lauryssens, el libro más polémico que se ha escrito sobre la vida del genio surrealista.
--Paraguasroto.com
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FUZZ-EXPRESS
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Some crime fiction aficionados fondly call themselves "McBainiacs", short for "McBain maniacs". Jean Pierre Engels from Belgium is a true McBainiac: he's got some 8 and a half metres (!!) of Ed McBain stuff in all editions, hardcover, audio, cassette, CD, VHS and DVD, outprints, e-stories, all in all some 650 (!!) items.
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You name it, he's got it. This bedeviled collector started reading my thrillers, in Dutch, and posted the following topic on Ed McBain's Open File Forum: "I looked far-away and a long time and found nearby and quite suddenly a real Ed McBain-pupil. On this continent, in Belgium of all places. His name? Stan Lauryssens. I just finished his [crime] novel No Time for Tears (Geen tijd voor tranen, in Dutch).
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Well, it feels like a Trans-European express on a slow local train rail and reads like: How? What? Why? and WOW! and WHAW! My humble opinion is that he could be the one to finish Becca in Jeopardy [McBain's unfinished crime novel]. Find out more about this gifted writer. He is close and deserves a cigar, or two... Enjoy." Thanks for your kind words, Jean Pierre, and thank you also for the cigar. Sadly, I don't smoke. Make it a beer... or two.
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Crime Fiction Based On A True Story
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I now finished my new typescript, titled The Dalí Killings. My agent refers to it as Dalí & I: The Sequel though this one is crime fiction based on a true story.
While a Hollywood production company embarks on a Salvador Dalí biopic and a search is under way for Dalí stand-ins, body doubles, hair doubles, hand doubles, shoulder doubles and even arse doubles, since Dalí was an avowed arse fetishist, hookers trading their wares in the railway district of Perpignan disappear and turn up butchered in ways that recall Salvador Dalí's famous The Railway Station at Perpignan, a harsh, cruel and pornographic museum painting. A local stonemason finds one of the murdered hookers in the back of his garden. The girl is sodomised, slashed, and her sexual organs have been amputated.
Is death imitating art?
The brutalised torso of another victim is discovered in a ditch outside Perpignan. Her anus has been excised with a scalpel and head and hands are missing. Breasts are removed with almost surgical precision. An early Salvador Dalí painting titled The Spectre of Sex-Appeal features a rotting female torso with missing head and hands and empty cloth bags instead of breasts.
Are Salvador Dalí's macabre museum paintings the key to a series of brutal murders?
Does the master of the surreal inspire a serial killer with the urge to recreate Salvador Dalí's works of art?
For more information, please contact philip.sane@lennartsaneagency.com
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