LULU MEETS GOD AND DOUBTS HIM by Danielle Ganek (fic)

This book, passed on by a friend, languished at the bottom of my reading stack, until I picked it up looking for something amusing to read.  It fit the bill nicely.  "Lulu....." is a quick and entertaining rainy afternoon treat.  It is chick lit, but with a punch to it.  The author, Danielle Ganek, is active in the New York art scene and writes with an insider's knowledge.  The book does a good job of skewering certain types that people the art world: gallery owners, agents, pseudo-artists, art groupies, etc. 
The title of the novel is the name of a painting by Jeffrey Finelli, an ex-pat Italian artist who is having his first show in a Chelsea gallery in Manhattan. Unfortunately for Finelli, he expires early in the story, leaving his art to soar in value.  The story is told by Mia McMurray, one of the eye catching young women hired by art dealers to add to the ambiance of the gallery.  The book was written in 2007 when there was a lot of money available to be invested in art and avaricious collectors hover and prance through the narrative.  Mia is reminiscent of one of the characters in the current hit "Girls," though without the blatant sex of the t.v. show.  The story is at its best when satirizing the hoi-poloi.  A parallel story of Mia's and her romance with an art agent doesn't work as well and falls into the chick-lit genre.  All in all, "Lulu..." is dishy read and a good break from heavier tomes.