Books with author Dave Thompson

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 past and present executives of auction houses and art dealerships, artists, and the buyers who move the market, Thompson launches the reader on a journey of discovery through the peculiar world of modern art. Surprising, passionate, gossipy, revelatory, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark reveals a great deal that even experienced auction purchasers do not know.

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 reader on a journey of discovery through the peculiar world of modern art. Surprising, passionate, gossipy, revelatory, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark reveals a great deal that even experienced auction purchasers do not know.

Almost two decades after the human race fell to the might and fury of the ancient dragons, the last of humanity is gathered together in Nottinghill Castle. Barely a thousand souls have survived in that time and they face constant threats from the evil forces of the Chaos lords. But thanks to their mages, their warriors, and the indomitable human spirit, they have managed to cling to life. So far.But things are now changing on the New Earth. The dwarves, long isolated in their empire deep beneath the surface, have been attacked by the goblin hordes and this has roused the dwarven people's fury. They have finally realized that, even in their secluded cities hundreds of miles below the ground, they are not safe.And now, a new player has returned to the world. The elves have been driven from their home of Trillfarness, a planet given to them in ancient times by the lords of Light. Evil has destroyed that sanctuary and only a handful of survivors have managed to return to the world where they were first created. Shattered but not broken, the elves are weak and vulnerable and in need of allies. But who can they turn to in their darkest hour?Old suspicions linger between the elves and the dwarves. Once rivals, neither race trusts the other and many dwarves would rather stand alone. Will they be able to work out their differences in time to save the world and themselves? The human race may be the key.If they can bring both sides together and forge an alliance between all three of the mortal races, perhaps they can finally take the fight to the forces of Darkness and take back their world. If not, then the New Earth may finally fall to evil.

Why would a smart New York investment banker pay twelve million dollars for the decaying, stuffed carcass of a shark? How does Jackson Pollock's drip painting No.5 1948 sell for $140 million? And why does a leather jacket with silver chain attached, tossed in a corner and titled 'No One Ever Leaves', bring $690,000 at a 2007 Sotheby's auction? The Twelve Million Dollar Stuffed Shark is the first book to look at the economics of the modern art world and the strategies which power the market to produce such astronomical prices. Don Thompson talks to auction houses, dealers, and collectors to find out the source of Charles Saatchi's Midas touch, and how far a gallery like White Cube has contributed to Damien Hirst becoming the highest-earning artist in the world. The result is a fascinating, shrewd and highly readable insight into a world where brand is everything.Don Thompson is an economist and professor of business specialising in art. He has taught at the London School of Economics and the Harvard Business School. This is his first trade book. He lives in London and Toronto.

Megaera, Tisiphone and Alecto are The Furies: Motorcycle riding Goddesses of Revenge, strong women kicking ass and celebrating the feminine divine. They track and kill those who’ve murdered and have escaped justice, killing them in as bloody a fashion as possible. Morbidly funny.A primordial demon, Sorath, AKA "The Beast", has escaped the bonds of the underworld, hopped a ride on an unsuspecting human…and is on a warpath, determined to bring about Armageddon, killing every god he can find along the way. Becoming a small-town serial killer is just the power-up he needs.Detective Dan Lanahan doesn’t believe in gods. He certainly doesn’t believe in dragons and demons. All he knows is that someone just left his niece tied to a tree, eyes gouged out, mysterious symbols carved into her flesh, and now they’re on a murderous rampage through his town. He’s going to stop this killer if it’s the last thing he does…even if that means going face to face with the impossible.To make matters worse, now Megaera is in love with him.Meanwhile, Hades and his domain, the Underworld, are embroiled in a Civil War. The Dragon Demon, Bune, was left in command when Sorath escaped and is busy killing innocent young women on the surface. The Demon Bune has teamed up with Nazi Germany’s mastermind of tactics, Rommel.Once Sorath returns, they’ll launch their war against Hades, the Underworld, and the surface.Only one thing is standing in their way: The Furies.Angels of Vengeance is a fantasy adventure full of violence, morbid humor, an unsuspecting detective, and three sister goddesses out for revenge.

Alice Cooper is an American rock star whose career has spanned more than four decades. With a stage show that features guillotines, electric chairs, boa constrictors and baby dolls, Cooper has pioneered a grandly theatrical and violent brand of hard rock designed to shock. Drawing from exclusive and unpublished interviews with a variety of names and faces from throughout Alice’s career, the book follows Cooper’s tale from his life growing up as a preacher’s son in Arizona, through the early years of struggle in Phoenix and then Los Angeles, and then onto the rollercoaster ride that has been the years since then. Includes interviews with original bandmates Michael Bruce and the late Glenn Buxton, drummer Neal Smith, the late Frank Zappa, manager Shep Gordon and producer Bob Ezrin. Includes tributes and recollections from many of the artists who call Alice an influence - from the Damned and the Cramps, to White Zombie and Gwar. Session players and songwriters who have made their own contributions to the Alice story recall their days spent with this Prince of Hell-raisers. Includes full discography and bibliography.

Fifteen year old Justin McLeod is in trouble. Born five thousand years after his race was destroyed in the fall of Atlantis, Justin and a handful of other new Titans are fighting for their survival.Shadowy government forces want to capture them and use their powers for their own dark purposes. And Hyperion, an ancient Titan who has awoken from stasis after sleeping for millennia, wants to destroy the new Titans so that he may conquer the world unimpeded.In a battle to save their home, a hidden underground complex called Sanctuary, Justin and his friends fight off Hyperion and his forces. But in doing so, they pay a heavy price. Many young Titans have fallen. Their human allies have been decimated. And Justin is trapped holding back an ancient corruption that threatens to destroy Sanctuary itself.He will do his best, and he will not surrender. But even now he is weakening. And not even a new Titan like Justin McLeod can hold back the tide of evil forever.

The old world of technology has fallen and a new world, filled with magic, has risen from the ashes. Humanity, decimated by massive dragon attacks, is now on the brink of extinction. Those who have survived have been Changed, altered by the gods to enable them to exist in a world thick with magical energy. But a handful have become more and the greatest of these is Simon O'Toole.Simon, once a heavy-set, middle-aged IT worker had been Changed into a slight young man brimming with power: a wizard. Trying to master his new magical skills and fighting to survive against the dragons that are hunting down the few remaining Changlings, the young wizard now faces the greatest threat of his new life. Brown dragons, led by an arrogant and incredibly powerful primal dragon, have invaded the land of the elves, one of humanity's only allies. On the New Earth, the red dragons are aggressively searching for the last of the Changlings. And now Simon has to choose: protect his own people from the ravages of the dragons on this world, or travel to the elven realm to try to save his allies. He is only one man, faced with a terrible choice, and if he makes the wrong decision, it could mean the extinction of the human race and the rise of the gods of Chaos.

The home world of the elves is known as Trillfarness. It was created millennia ago for the elvish race by the lords of Light as a safe haven when they were threatened by the ancient gods of Chaos. Hidden away from the mortal realms, the elves were safe from evil. They lived in harmony with nature, far from the conflicts that plagued the Earth. But now something has changed. Trillfarness has come closer to the plane of Earth than it has ever been and some elves fear that the old evil gods have found them once again. Darkness is stirring in remote corners of their planet and the peaceful elves are threatened. But their race hasn't known war for ages uncounted. Can they stand against the old gods who seek to wipe out their kind? Or will they fall and be lost in the dust of history?

Over 3 years ago, the old Earth began to die. Technology started to break down. Electricity failed. Machines stopped working. Planes, trains and cars became useless hunks of metal. And then the dragons came.On the Night of Burning, the world's great cities were reduced to slag and rubble by dragon fire. Civilization, as we knew it. ceased to be.But before the end came, the Changlings appeared. A few humans, children and adults alike, began to mutate into...something else. Ears became pointed, fingers fused or elongated. Their old languages were lost to them and they began to babble in unknown tongues. Perhaps one in a hundred thousand Changed. Simon O'Toole was one of them.Back then, he was a rather large, middle-aged man. Now he's a skinny, awkward teenager.Simon has lost everything; his family, his friends, the world that he once knew. But he has gained something as well. Through hints in dreams, he has learned to use magical runes that can summon elementals. He can cast fireballs and lightning. In short, Simon has become a wizard.Slowly, carefully, he is learning to use this new power. It might take years to master his magic. Years that Simon may not have.The dragons are still on the hunt. They search for the scattered survivors of their invasion and, when these mundane humans have been exterminated, the dragons will then track down and kill those few who became Changlings. And that means that Simon is rapidly running out of time.

A rollicking new adventure story from the creator of Rip Haywire!Rip Haywire thinks he's got it made. Instead of going to bed early, doing fractions and eating Brussels sprouts, he gets to accompany his soldier-of fortune dad on laughably dangerous international missions. He's the only 12-year-old in the world with a working knowledge of the Seven Most Common Booby Traps Used by Ancient Civilizations to Protect Their Precious Treasures. It sure beats school, right? But Rip's life is about to change when his dad, in a sudden fit of responsibility, assigns Rip his toughest mission yet: a historically all-girls summer camp. Will Rip learn how to get along with his feminine camp mates, most of whom have never even seen a flame thrower, let alone used one to fend off a pack of rabid hyenas? Can Rip solve the mysteries that surround the camp and one intriguing girl in particular? Readers will follow Rip's misadventures in his whimsically illustrated journal, helping him to solve puzzles and beat the bad guys, as he learns that friendship can be more valuable than ancient treasure, and more powerful than a well-placed land mine.