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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Barely any
Van Gogh's self-harm (the ear) depicted; some period violence
Language
Barely any
Mild language
Sexual Content
Some
Adult romantic relationships; some sexual content
Substance Use
Barely any
Social drinking; Van Gogh's later alcohol use
Emotional Intensity
A lot
Van Gogh's mental illness depicted in full; his progressive breakdown and the psychological cost of his genius
What this book is about
Irving Stone's biographical novel follows Vincent van Gogh from his early failures as a lay preacher through his artistic education, his relationships with women who could not love him back, his friendship with Gauguin, the famous ear incident, and his years in the asylum before his death. Stone's fiction stays close to the historical record while dramatizing the interior life of one of history's great artists. A biography that reads like a novel and a novel that reads like history.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Van Gogh's mental illness and breakdown depicted throughout
Self-harm (the ear incident)
The psychological weight of an artistic life lived in poverty and rejection
Reader Verification
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