Lovers at Chameleon Club--Paris-1932 -- by Francine Prose
This novel, inspired by an iconic photograph of a lesbian couple in 1920s Paris, uses multiple narrative styles and perspectives to overlap, contradict, insinuate, guess, and sum up history in many versions. The strain of Nazi occupied Paris is told from every social strata. Some characters resemble real life figures, some are entirely fictional, and yet others like Picasso and Hitler appear as themselves with talking parts. The scope is ambitious while the narrative is self-aware and academic in parts. Ultimately, I enjoyed it like a substantial hike after gliding through a string of malnourished e-books by self-published authors. Any form of art that inspires me to practice my own has achieved something. That said, it's a bit like after eating Kale; you know it's good for you but damn, some garlic fries sound good right about now.