The Caricaturist
- Authors: Norman Lock
- Series: Book 11 in the American Novels series
- Genres: Historical
- Rank:
- Rating: 4.5 based on 2 reviews
- Release Date: July 2, 2024
- Print length: 352 pages (Paperback)
About the book
A young artist, Oliver Fischer, crosses paths with Stephen Crane as America’s desire for empire pulls them into conflict.
Oliver, a rebellious bohemian artist and student at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, incurs the wrath of his banker father and the disdain of Philadelphia’s leading realist painter Thomas Eakins when he tries to stage Manet’s provocative painting The Luncheon on the Grass. Soon after, he becomes embroiled in a battle between the Anti-Imperialist League and their expansionist opponents, alongside Mark Twain and Andrew Carnegie.
Sent to Key West to document the 1898 American invasion of Cuba, accompanied by war correspondent Stephen Crane, Oliver experiences a moment of truth during a naval bombardment, realizing the fragility of life caught between brilliance and destruction.
The Caricaturist, the second-to-last book in The American Novels series, presents a tragicomic portrayal of America grappling with its core values at the start of the twentieth century.