Muse

2015 | Contemporary

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.

Review
“Entertaining . . . The rivalries of the literary world animate this debut novel, which follows Paul Dukach, a rising editor at one of New York’s last independent publishers; his boss, Homer Stern; and Sterling Wainwright, the head of their main competitor. All three are captivated by the same woman, the poet Ida Perkins, who is revered by Paul, pursued by Homer, and published (and occasionally bedded) by Sterling. Paul’s career takes flight when Ida entrusts him with an explosive secret. Muse is a testament to the purity of the written word, and the turmoil that can be required to get it on paper.” — The New Yorker

Jonathan Galassi (Author)