Bruce McDougall

The Lizards of Palm Beach Bruce McDougall

A gifted but naïve sculptor from Canada settles in Lake Worth, a neighborhood near Palm Beach, attracted by the palm trees and content to sell his work at a nearby flea market. He's joined by his brother, who is attracted to Palm Beach by the money. The brother sells three of the sculptor's pieces through a local art dealer, who creates a market for the work among his wealthy clientele at absurdly inflated prices. When a claim is filed after one of the pieces is stolen, the insurance company's investigation threatens to expose the dealer's questionable tactics and his clients' gullibility. The artist resists temptation and maintains the integrity of his work. He also refuses to create sculptures to order, even if they might fetch far more money than he receives for the pieces he creates for himself. But in an insular world of sordid corruption, where contacts matter more than friendship, money buys acquiescence to corruption, and everything and everyone has a price, he questions the value of his integrity and wonders if he hasn't deluded himself into thinking that there are more important things in life than money.