A thorough and detailed discussion of Irish-British painter Francis Bacon’s (1909-1992) work and process. The interviews in the book were melded from a series of interviews over a period of twenty-five years with David Sylvester, a writer, art critic and authority on Bacon.

There are a few subjects Sylvester returns to more than once and teases out. Bacon’s preference for painting portraits from photographs rather than the seated person. “They inhibit me.” His affinity for a sense of meat in paintings, religious imagery, using triptychs as a format. His preference for not telling a story or narrative with his paintings. “The moment the story enters, the boredom comes upon you.”

There’s some discussion of how Bacon’s world view affects his work. “I’m always surprised when I wake up in the morning,” and “You can be optimistic and totally without hope.”

There are color plates of many of Bacon’s unsetting images and in some cases the sources of their inspiration. The book itself is physically substantial, of high quality with thick glossy pages and the many illustrations. David Sylvester is a penetrating interviewer. Bacon is an honest and articulate subject. It makes for a fascinating series of interviews and book. ( )

A good book but I was hoping for some juicy interviews. Mostly David Sylvester asks him about his methods, materials, a lot of stuff that's specific to oil painting, not a lot of hot goss in here. It's nice that Francis Bacon didn't get his start until he was 35, nor did he ever get to school, and I liked the part where he describes painting a screaming mouth like Monet paints a sunset. You gotta really want to know about his process, I really wanted to know about his boyfriends. ( )