From the publisher of Farrar, Straus and Giroux: a first novel, at once hilarious and tender, about the decades-long rivalry between two publishing lions, and the iconic, alluring writer who has obsessed them both.
Paul Dukach is heir apparent at Purcell & Stern, one of the last independent publishing houses in New York, whose shabby offices on Union Square belie the treasures on its list. Working with his boss, the flamboyant Homer Stern, Paul learns the ins and outs of the book trade-how to work an agent over lunch; how to swim with the literary sharks at the Frankfurt Book Fair; and, most important, how to nurse the fragile egos of the dazzling, volatile authors he adores.
But Paul's deepest admiration has always been reserved for one writer: poet Ida Perkins, whose audacious verse and notorious private life have shaped America's contemporary literary landscape, and whose longtime publisher-also her cousin and erstwhile lover-happens to be Homer's biggest rival. And when Paul at last has the chance to meet Ida at her Venetian palazzo, she entrusts him with her greatest secret-one that will change all of their lives forever.
Studded with juicy details only a quintessential insider could know, written with both satiric verve and openhearted nostalgia, Muse is a brilliant, haunting book about the beguiling interplay between life and art, and the eternal romance of literature.
From the Hardcover edition.
Industry Reviews
"A bravura first novel. . . . Compelling. . . . Galassi propels his readers forward on a thought-provoking, often hilarious, bittersweet ride." --Los Angeles Review of Books "Entertaining. . . . Muse is many things: a satire of New York's social world, a portrait of publishing that is both love song and takedown, and an intriguing mystery." --The New York Times Book Review
"A love letter to beautiful writing. . . . Galassi has a treasure trove of information which he supplies to readers in great, and gorgeous detail." --The Huffington Post
"Excellent. . . . A terrific novel. . . . A loving document of a bygone era and a crackling good story." --USA Today
"A testament to the purity of the written word, and the turmoil that can be required to get it on paper." --The New Yorker
"Keenly observed. . . . Incisive. . . . Muse--much like John Updike's early Bech books--leaves insiders with a knowing portrait of the publishing world before the digital revolution, and gives outsiders a gently satirical look at the passions and follies of a vocation peopled by 'fanatics of the cult of the printed word.'" --The New York Times
"Make[s] poetry and publishing feel alive with complexity and drama and feeling. . . . How beautifully Galassi represents moments of literary triumph." --Commonweal
"Charming. . . . It is one of the pleasures of Muse to watch Galassi mix his fictional literati with the real ones." --The New York Review of Books
"Packed with lively secrets and insider gossip from the world of literature." --Entertainment Weekly
"A long-awaited, and worthwhile, event. Galassi's main character is the heir to a prestigious publishing house who becomes the confidante of his favorite writer, a poet whose personal life is as famed as her writing." --Vanity Fair
"Beguiling . . . Galassi imbues his offbeat tale with emotional intensity and a lingering resonance." --Miami Herald
"An enjoyably incestuous tangle of life and art. . . . Preserve[s] the quirks and charms of a colorful era in literary culture." --The Boston Globe
"Accomplished. . . . Affecting. . . . Muse adds still another gold star to Galassi's literary report card." --The New York Journal of Books
"A fictional send-up of New York's publishing industry, by one of its real-life members. . . . While industry insiders will likely recognize the thinly veiled references to key players in publishing, outsiders will giggle at Galassi's accounts of aggressive agents, arrogant authors and barbaric book fairs." --New York Post
"A witty, elegant, tons-of-fun debut novel. Jonathan Galassi has got all the dirt on the publishing industry and he is ready to dish. But he also takes us from Union Square and a hideaway country cottage to Venice, for a love story all his own." --Gary Shteyngart
