This tell-all book by a curator and art historian takes the reader on a worldwide journey through a notional calendar year in the fast lane of art, a world long perceived as closed and obscure, to uncover the working lives of artists, curators, gallerists, institutions, auction houses, art advisors and critics and find out what they actually do. Along the way Israel explores what drives an interest in working with art, how artworks acquire value and how technology has transformed the art world.