My motivation for reading this book was reading The Moon and Sixpence., which was a novel very loosely based on Gauguin's life. This book consists of an 18-page biography (which includes discussion of Gauguin's works), a very detailed listing of events in his life, and 48 color plates with notes on each. The color of the plates is not of the highest quality; it looks washed out in comparision to other reproductions I have, but the large number of plates is very useful in following Gauguin's career. I would call this a useful, rather than a good, book. By that, I mean I read it for information, not for pleasure. ( )