Bushman Lives! (review)

After seeing a painting at Chicago's Art Institute that leaves him "happy and buzzy," seventeen-year-old Harold Knishke decides he wants to be an artist. Sure, he's never really drawn more than stick figures, but that doesn't stop him; fortunately, the members of the artsy scene of Chicago's beatnik era seem more than willing to help. Harold begins by taking drawing classes from a taxidermist, then finds a mentor in a muralist who camouflaged entire villages during World War II, sets up a workshop in a translucent mansion, and eventually sets sail for a hidden island in Lake Michigan in search of both a missing gorilla (the titular Bushman) and an artistic adventure. Pinkwater's trademark wackiness is on full display here, but the amiable absurdity effectively serves a secondary purpose of leavening a treatise on the nature of art with wit and self-referential mockery. Young readers may have a problem immediately identifying and relating to the 1950s beatniks, but the author's commentary on the gatekeepers of the art world will sit well with those both awed by and suspicious of today's hipsters. Plenty of teens will recognize the issues that Harold confronts—subjectivity of taste, the lure of selling out—as he tries to figure out what art is. The parade of eccentric characters Harold meets is undeniably entertaining, and the conversations he has with them are often provocative and direct, pondering the reasons and motivation behind creation but in an accessible and often humorous manner. Framing all of this is a love letter to Chicago and Windy City residents, and fans will particularly welcome the inclusion of bits of historical trivia, geographic landmarks, and general appreciation.