The Museum of Modern Love - Softcover

Rose, Heather

Softcover

ISBN 10: 161620852X ISBN 13: 9781616208523

Publisher: Algonquin Books, 2018

Synopsis

An Amazon Editors’ Best Book of December 2018

“Art will wake you up. Art will break your heart. There will be glorious days. If you want eternity you must be fearless.” —from The Museum of Modern Love

Arky Levin has reached a dead end. Unexpectedly separated from his wife, he suddenly has the space he needs to work composing film scores—but none of the peace of mind he needs to create. As he wanders the city, guilty and restless, it’s almost by chance that he stumbles upon an exhibition that will change his life. 

The installation the fictional Arky discovers—which is based on a real piece of performance art that took place in 2010—is inexplicably powerful. Visitors to the Museum of Modern Art sit across a table from the performance artist Marina Abramović, for as short or long a period as they choose. Although some go in skeptical, almost all leave moved. And the participants are not the only ones to find themselves changed by this unusual experience: Arky finds himself drawn to the exhibit. He returns day after day to watch other people sit with Abramović—and as he does, he begins to understand what might be missing in his life and what he must do.

About this title

Review

An Amazon Best Book of December 2018: In any other hands, this novel centered around performance artist Marina Abramovic’s famous 2010 MoMA exhibit titled The Artist Is Present might not have worked. But Heather Rose’s poetic language, at once both accessible and heart-searing, is also a work of art. Movie composer Arky Levin is depressed and isolated from the family he’s known for 24 years after being written out of his wife’s legal wishes when she falls into a coma. He should be working on music for a new animated movie, but instead he finds himself sitting on the sidelines watching Marina’s silent performance every day, and over time, he is completely changed by the experience. This is a captivating story on the improbability of life, the power of art to transform our pain, a meditation on the fluidity of time, and the ruse of human separation. --Marlene Kelly

About the Author

Heather Rose was born in Australia in 1964. Her novels have been shortlisted or have won awards for literary fiction, crime fiction, and children’s fantasy. In 2017, The Museum of Modern Love, her seventh novel, won the Christina Stead Prize and the Stella Prize. It is her first novel for adults to be published in the United States. She lives by the sea on the island of Tasmania.

About this edition

• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 161620852X
• ISBN 13: 9781616208523
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304