BOOKS
BOOKS
Michelangelo at Midlife
and Rick Steves books & TV
Travel, history, music, poetry, the arts, personal life events, humor, and the shared universe of Big Ideas… all find expression in Gene Openshaw’s work.
His most recent book, which combines them all, is…
MICHELANGELO AT MIDLIFE: CHASING THE TOMB OF JULIUS II
A traveler’s quest for Michelangelo’s most troubled masterpiece.
FROM FLORENCE TO PARIS TO ROME, a man crisscrosses Europe in search of Michelangelo’s most notorious work: the Tomb of Pope Julius II. Along the way, he teams up with an intriguing Italian woman who opens his eyes to the artist’s troubled inner life and the personal struggle they all share—an acute midlife crisis…
Michelangelo at Midlife is typical of Gene’s work: ambitious, operatic, and hard to classify. It’s a hybrid, weaving two stories together, one fictional, one nonfiction. “Michelangelo’s story wrapped in a 21st century novel,” as one reviewer put it. At your local bookstore, you may find it variously shelved under “Biography,” “Art,” “Travel Literature,” or just plain “Fiction.”
The core of the book is Michelangelo’s story—his 40-year struggle to complete what he hoped would be his magnum opus. Incredibly, this is the only non-scholarly book (that is, “readable”) about the much-talked-about but little-known Tomb of Julius II.
But that’s just the start. Gene himself described how the book evolved as he wrote it: “It began as a purely nonfiction account. But I wanted it to have a sense of ‘place,’ so I added a modern traveler following in Michelangelo’s actual footsteps. Next, that traveler became fictional, to add a dramatic layer. Then I realized the traveler—though highly fictionalized—was kind of like me, and, suddenly, whoa! this is my story!”
The book kept growing. An array of colorful graphics (by Dave Hoerlein) and elegant design (by Sandra Hundacker) transformed the book from a story of words to one also told visually. Taken together, all those elements aim for an emotional impact that’s greater than the sum of the parts. With its evocative travelogue, colorful images, and history detective story, Michelangelo at Midlife is a fast read for lovers of the arts with a romantic streak.
“A delightful combination of art history and light drama… told with intelligence… conveyed with impressive emotional poignancy… filled with humor and tinged with an ironic acknowledgement of the travails of life. This is an entertaining treat.” -- Kirkus Reviews
“Like a trip to Italy: edifying, informative, and unpredictable.” -- BookLife Reviews
Michelangelo at Midlife is available wherever you get your books—in print, e-book, or audiobook. Consider supporting your local brick-and-mortar bookstore (rather than Amazon) by ordering it directly from them.
RICK STEVES BOOKS
Gene and travel guru Rick Steves met in 7th grade and have been collaborating off and on ever since.
Together they’ve written numerous books and TV shows, with Gene specializing in making Europe’s history, art, and culture accessible to the traveler. Their guidebooks (to Paris, Rome, London, etc.) are some of the best-selling in the English language. The full-color art book “Europe’s Top 100 Masterpieces” is a breezy overview of Western art with full-color, full-page illustrations. “Europe 101: History and Art for the Traveler” is still going strong after four decades.
For PBS TV, Rick and Gene have co-authored a number of specials, such as “Fascism in Europe,” and the ambitious six-hour documentary covering the entire history of the “Art of Europe.” Gene has also produced dozens of audio tours, where Rick guides travelers through historic sites.
The adventures of Rick and Gene traveling across Asia are documented in Rick’s published journal, “On the Hippie Trail.” With Gene as the editor, the book was a New York Times Bestseller and a 2025 honoree by the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation. In 2026, the paperback was released, also hitting the NYT Bestseller list.
MICHELANGELO NEWS (Sep 13-20)
Brooding “Dusk” from the Medici Chapels—a self-portrait?
In September of 1534, Michelangelo was stuck in Florence.
He was mired in the same-old-same-old he’d struggled with for a decade—his never-ending work in the Medici Chapels, his dysfunctional family, his fickle patrons, his same old hometown.
He knew he was in a rut—“plowing the same high seas and swirling winds I’ve traveled before.”
Meanwhile, his once-great dreams of the Tomb of Julius were fading in the distance.
It was at that point that a tantalizing new offer came up: Pope Clement VII asked him to paint a fresco in the Vatican.
Michelangelo was intrigued.
His world was already tipping toward Rome. He had friends there—from Pope Clement to young Tommaso Cavalieri to the easy-going painter Sebastiano del Piombo. And while Florence was in decline, Rome was on the rise.
Most of all, there was the Tomb. Rome was where the Tomb was to be built. And if that was ever going to happen, the time was growing short.
And so it was that, on the autumnal equinox of 1534, Michelangelo penned a life-changing letter. “Tomorrow,” he wrote a friend, “I leave here to go to Rome.”
And as the sun rose the next day, he did just that—abruptly, and with no explanation.
Nearing 60, he was saying goodbye to his hometown to embark on a whole new chapter in his life.
What did his future hold? He wasn’t sure. But one thing he did know, and he made it very clear:
“I shall not come back here again.”
And he never did.