The Lives of the Muses
Nine Women & the Artists They Inspired
By Francine Prose
(Harper Perennial, Paperback, 9780060555252, 448pp.)
Publication Date: October 2003
Other Editions of This Title: Google eBook, Hardcover
Categories: General, History - General, Women's Studies - General
 |     |
All loved, and were loved by, their artists, and inspired them with an intensity of emotion akin to Eros.
In a brilliant, wry, and provocative book, National Book Award finalist Francine Prose explores the complex relationship between the artist and his muse. In so doing, she illuminates with great sensitivity and intelligence the elusive emotional wellsprings of the creative process.
Francine Prose is the author of sixteen books of fiction. Her novel A Changed Man won the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and Blue Angel was a finalist for the National Book Award. Her most recent works of nonfiction include the highly acclaimed Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife, and the New York Times bestseller Reading Like a Writer. A former president of PEN American Center, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Francine Prose lives in New York City.
“Smooth smart and altogether engaging.”
-Atlanta Journal Constitution
“Refreshing … a wonderful work of revisionist biography.”
-Kirkus Reviews
“Exceptionally well researched … an elegant study.”
-Book Forum
“Prose has done a great service in her just reconsideration of the rather strange, complicated role of the muse.”
-San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
“Rollicking … Almost too much fun to read.”
-Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air
“A wonderful combination of argument and literary portraiture.”
-Wall Street Journal
“With elegance, eloquence and majesty, Prose has give us a glimpse of the tangled webs of art and Eros.”
-Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Lively and compassionate”
-Entertainment Weekly
“Entertaining … Prose’s indignation, intelligence, scorching wit and critical insight have full play.”
-Washington Post Book World
“A remarkable book...piquant, intelligent, provocative--and sometimes haunting.”
-Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Packed with fascinating details.”
-Columbus Dispatch
“A supple work of cultural history.”
-Time magazine
“Prose make a remarkable case for the exceptionality of these women in their own right.”
-Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Sad, glamorous and entirely riveting.”
-Newsweek
“Francine Prose humanizes nine women who, in some cases, have been idealized beyond recognition. Hurrah for real women.”
-San Francisco Chronicle
“Richly drawn … Prose approaches the artist-muse relationship with respect and wonder.”
-Gotham Magazine
“Juicy reading …. a thoroughly researched, highly opinionated series of fascinating double biographies.”
-Los Angeles Times Book Review
“Stylish writing … a clear-eyed view .. cherry-picked examples.”
-USA Today
“Prose taps into the power of nine in this inspired book.”
-Art News
 |
1Q84 Haruki Murakami Knopf |
 |
The Marriage Plot Jeffrey Eugenides Farrar, Straus, and Giroux |
 |
The Sense of an Ending Julian Barnes Knopf |
 |
Death Comes to Pemberley PD James Knopf |
