Gallery of Fools — Jerome Tuccille

After returning from a vacation in California with his wife and family, the narrator is reluctantly drawn into a crime involving the theft of eight Impressionist masterpieces from a Manhattan art gallery, perpetrated by members of his family, and escapes at the end only by the grace of a benevolent deity. In June 2007, one of the paintings, Monet's “Nympheas,” sold at auction in London for $36 million. The narrator tries to find redemption in a quixotic political campaign when he runs for Governor of New York, only to have his life unravel before his eyes in a way he could not have foreseen. The failure of his campaign and the arrest of members of his family for their involvement in the crime lead to near financial ruin and the destruction of his marriage. In the end, he gets back on his feet, reunites with his wife, and finds his way back onto a path toward redemption.