Lust for Life is an excellent example of how an author may resolve the potential conflict between a novel that contains entertaining narrative and an historical novel. Stone turns a biography of Van Gogh, who is a far-fromperfect hero because he is driven by passion and lacks certain endearing qualities, from a textbook rendition, which it could have easily become, into a context which entertains while including the many facts of Van Gogh's life that Stone had uncovered. To accomplish this, he develops Van Gogh's rejection of love on a parallel with his devotion to art. By taking Van Gogh's rejection and allowing his character to turn it into energy that creates masterpieces, Stone combines an entertaining story with the facts of Van Gogh's life and the rise of Impressionism.