Call it a fictional biography -- an outline of the life and art of a great artist who never actually existed. 
 That is the risky but clever approach taken in "The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone: A Novel," Adele Griffin's clever "biography" of the elusive genius. Interspersed with photographs and paintings, Griffin sculpts a portrait of a fictional girl through interviews, letters and anecdotes -- and the biggest problem is that it's more admirable as an experiment than it is as a novel. 
 Addison Stone was a street artist who instantly captivated the public, and became a mesmerizing It Girl for the New York art world. She was smart, gorgeous, cool and effortlessly charismatic... until she suddenly drowned, leaving the world still wanting to know more about her. So Griffin (writing as herself) set out to compile a biographical portrait of Addison. 
 Most of "The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone: A Novel" is made up of oral interviews presented as text, from people who knew Addison. Her family (who adored or resented her), her classmates, photographers, friends -- all give detailed snapshots of her life and personality. Her art and photographs are splashed across the pages, giving a visual window into her mind as well. 
 And occasionally, there are glimpses of Addison directly, such as interview clippings that are like little haiku pressed into a collage ("Kiss night was black as pitch") or emails (Not into calamari food poisoning hell"). But she remains a mysterious figure throughout the book, always with the feeling that you're not sure what pieces are missing from her puzzle. 
 My personal stance on biographies is that the more people and perspectives, the better -- the closest you can come to the "truth" is to create a mosaic of many different viewpoints, each showing unique perspective and experiences with the person. And the triumph of "The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone" is that Adele Griffin seems to know this -- there is no unified vision of Addison Stone. To her brother, he was a sister she loved; to her cousin, she was an attention hog; to her friends, "she can be a nightmare, but she's our nightmare." 
 And Griffin spatters the book with a snappy, edgy quality that seems to emanate from Addison herself, as if she made the world artier and cooler just by being in it. She also mixes together epistolary snips and snaps with pseudo-oral histories. As an experiment, it's an excellent one, and at times you can almost forget that this is technically fiction -- especially when she tosses in photographs of Addison, her lover, her life and her home. 
 But there is one flaw: you can't really connect to anyone in it. The format makes this kind of inevitable -- actual biographies are like this -- but at the end you find Addison fascinating, fearless, hauntingly strange and bright, but still elusive. As for the people who contributed, they are only seen in glimpses. 
 But despite that flaw, "The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone: A Novel" is a fascinating, paint-spattered, angular little experiment -- and definitely well worth reading for those who like experimental twists on fiction.