The museum of modern love

Title:

Author:

Rose, Heather, 1964- author.

Summary:

"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."-- Provided by publisher.

General Note:

"Originally published in Australia in 2016 by Allen & Unwin."

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

286 pages ; 23 cm

Personal Subject:

Abramović, Marina-Fiction.

Subject Term:

Performance art -- Fiction.

Film composers -- Fiction.

Conduct of life -- Fiction.

Man-woman relationships -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

New York (N.Y.) -- Fiction.

Publisher:

Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill,

Publication Date:

2018

ISBN:

9781616208523

Publication Information:

Chapel Hill, North Carolina : Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2018.

Call Number:

ROSE

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003353649	Adult Fiction	ROSE	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

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.

Author Notes

Heather Rose is an Australian writer. Her books include, White Heart, The Butterfly Man, The River Wife, Angelica Banks Finding Serendipity, A Week Without Tuesday, and Blueberry Pancakes Forever. She writes the Tuesday McGillycuddy series for children under the pen-name, Angelica Banks, with co-author Danielle Wood. She won the 2017 Stella Prize for her novel, The Museum of Modern Love.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Rose's clever, genre-bending hybrid of fact and fiction is an exploration of love and convergence set against the backdrop of a work of art performed by Marina AbramovicA' at MoMA in New York City in 2010. Troubled composer Arky Levin, whose absent wife is gravely ill, joins several other needy characters as they witness the Serbian artist sitting at a table in the museum, gazing into the eyes of anyone wishing to join her (as the artist really did in 2010, for over 700 hours over the course of a few months). He becomes friendly with Jane Miller, who has come from Georgia burdened with the death of her husband, but many others watch as well, and each is healed or transformed by the experience. Assisting the characters in unspooling their stories is a spirit or angel, guardian of the creatives Arky and Marina, the ghost of Marina's mother Danica, and, most strangely, the artist herself. Rose dives into the head of AbramovicA' to muse upon the meaning of it all, which might appear controversial had AbramovicA' not given the author complete freedom to appropriate. Taken together, these points of view succeed in creating a portrait of human desire and human failing, but perhaps most profoundly, human striving for something greater than self. Rose's melancholy book resonates with emotion, touching on life's great dilemmas-death, vocation, love, art. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Library Journal Review

In 2010, over a period of 75 days, real-life performance artist Marina Abramovic presented The Artist Is Present, in which she sat on a wooden chair at a table in the atrium of New York's Museum of Modern Art and stared into the eyes of the participants who lined up to sit across from her. This is not so much her story as it is that of the exhibit's fictional participants. Prominent among them is Arky Levin, a film composer seeking inspiration for his latest project, whose wife has moved into long-term care after suffering a stroke. Sitting nearby is recent widow and art teacher Jane Miller, who came to New York seeking solace and is mesmerized by the performance, by other audience members like Levin, and by the sitters, many of whom are moved to tears by the experience. -VERDICT This captivating work explores the meaning of art in our lives and the ways in which it deepens our understanding of ourselves. As -Hannah Rothschild did in The Improbability of Love, Australian author Rose also combines intriguing characters with a laser-sharp focus on art to produce a gem of a novel. [See Prepub Alert, 5/14/18.]-Barbara Love, formerly with Kingston Frontenac P.L., Ont. © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.