Listen free for 30 days

  • The $12 Million Stuffed Shark

  • The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art
  • Written by: Don Thompson
  • Narrated by: Adam Verner
  • Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (12 ratings)

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
The $12 Million Stuffed Shark cover art

The $12 Million Stuffed Shark

Written by: Don Thompson
Narrated by: Adam Verner
Try for $0.00

$14.95 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $35.08

Buy Now for $35.08

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

Why would a smart New York investment banker pay $12 million for the decaying, stuffed carcass of a shark? By what alchemy does Jackson Pollock's drip painting "No. 5, 1948" sell for $140 million?

Intriguing and entertaining, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark is a Freakonomics approach to the economics and psychology of the contemporary art world. Why were record prices achieved at auction for works by 131 contemporary artists in 2006 alone, with astonishing new heights reached in 2007? Don Thompson explores the money, lust, and self-aggrandizement of the art world in an attempt to determine what makes a particular work valuable while others are ignored.

This book is the first to look at the economics and the marketing strategies that enable the modern art market to generate such astronomical prices. Drawing on interviews with both past and present executives of auction houses and art dealerships, artists, and the buyers who move the market, Thompson launches the listener on a journey of discovery through the peculiar world of modern art. Surprising, passionate, gossipy, and revelatory, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark reveals a great deal that even experienced auction purchasers do not know.

©2008 Don Thompson (P)2017 Tantor

What the critics say

"[An] informative an occasionally hilarious look at the surreal contemporary art market...A clear-headed approach to a frequently high-pitched issue." ( Kirkus)

What listeners say about The $12 Million Stuffed Shark

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

too much time spent on the who and not the what

the author seems to spend half the time talking about specific people and struggles to get to the world and how it works

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!