The big lies behind the big eyes of "artist" Walter Keane

Mark Frauenfelder 5:06 pm Wed Jun 25, 2014

This week in Gweek we review Adam Parfrey and Cletus Nelson's biography of famous kitsch artists, the Keanes. Plus: Plex media server, play putties, and much more. Brought to you by Random House Audio (click here for free downloads!) and by Stamps.com (click here for a special $110 offer!)

In each episode of Gweek, Dean Putney and I discuss recommended media, apps, and gadgets. This time we talked about the Plex media server, Crazy Aaron’s Putty World and the history of Silly Putty, Baggu's eco-friendly shopping bags, the Instacart grocery delivery service. We also recommended three books:

dinner The Dinner – Over the course of a dinner in a restaurant in Amsterdam, we learn a secret shared by two brothers and their wives. The story is told by an unreliable narrator, and it’s hard to tell what he is making up. Reminiscent of Roald Dahl's stories for grown ups.

blighted-eye The Blighted Eye – Samples from the world’s greatest comic book art collector.

citizenkeane Citizen Keane: The Big Lies Behind the Big Eyes – A juicy biography of Walter and Margaret Keane, famous for the “big eye waif” paintings of the 1960s. Walter Keane was a sociopathic liar who couldn’t paint. Margaret did all the paintings herself. Tim Burton has a movie coming out about the Keanes.

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