Synopses & Reviews
In these pages, Jonathan Galassi—the longtime publisher of Farrar, Straus and Giroux—gives us an extraordinarily sensitive, satirically sharp novel set in the world of books that he knows so well. At the center is Paul Dukach, editor-in-chief and heir apparent at Purcell & Stern, one of New York’s last great independent publishing houses. But despite all his success, Paul remains obsessed with the writer who got away: the poet Ida Perkins, whose outsize life and work have made her a celebrity—and who is published by Stern’s biggest rival.
When Paul at last meets Ida at her Venetian palazzo, she entrusts him with her greatest secret—one that will change all their lives. Filled with juicy details only a quintessential insider could know, Muse is a salty valentine to the people who write, sell, and, above all, read the books that shape our lives.
Review
"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
Review
"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
Review
"A testament to the purity of the written word, and the turmoil that can be required to get it on paper." The New Yorker
Review
"A bravura first novel....Compelling....Galassi propels his readers forward on a thought-provoking, often hilarious, bittersweet ride." Los Angeles Review of Books
Review
“"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
About the Author
Jonathan Galassi is the president and publisher of Farrar, Straus & Giroux and the author of three collections of poetry, as well as acclaimed translations of the Italian poets Eugenio Montale and Giacomo Leopardi. A former Guggenheim Fellow and poetry editor of The Paris Review, he also writes for The New York Review of Books and other publications.