What Beauty — Mark Beyer

Do "Gods" rule you? What would YOU do if you learned just how much power hangs over you? Minus Orth is caught between his own "power of art" and a woman's "power of being." Think of how the Olympian Gods would change in our minds when we are allowed to use our imaginations to see their true ages. Time changes all people -- even gods -- and when their day-to-day mischievous lives no longer play a role in human affairs, what then do they become? The image of shriveled skin is too apt to ignore. And, above all, what do we associate with the aging of these gods within the condition of our modern times? Minus Orth has an idea which can explain this, and give our imaginations the figures to uphold. He is sculpting the mighty figures of myth -- and the not-so-mighty -- in an art cycle he has titled "Mythical Gods in Their Twilight" without the least irony. And his creations have not come without a price. Author Mark Beyer, along with Siren & Muse Publishing, bring you a story of obsession, identity, and art. Power lurks on every page. Synopsis: Minus Orth walks dogs for a living and sculpts for his life. He has a girlfriend, Belinda, who's itching to get married. He plays poker with a quartet of exiled aristocrats. His friend, Peter N, has reaped artistic success that's both inspirational and a thorn. And at Minus's art co-op, the residents live on the fringe of society. This is the power of New York City, the power of an Arts lifestyle, and the power of passion for fame. One day Minus crosses paths with Karen Kosek, best remembered as a culture critic of the 1960s. Karen dropped out of sight years ago. Now she dresses as a bag lady -- ragged clothes, a garbage smell, and bulging plastic bags she carries as if they hold the secrets to the good life. Minus orchestrates a tenuous relationship with Karen, and discovers in her a woman who has not been trampled underfoot, but is burrowed deeper in society's crust than anyone could imagine. Thus begins an odyssey in which Minus becomes obsessed with Karen's past and present, obsessed with creating his sculpture cycle, and with the role artists play in society's split personality. “Do you have what it takes to make something beautiful?” is a question that comes to the minds of many characters in this story. Their answers are hilarious, confused, self-delusional, virtuous, or simply truthful, because the people who create beauty are different from those who value beauty, and far afield from the powers able to help it flourish … or destroy it. "I want to read this book. I must read this book." -- Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Minus Orth's "eccentricities ... make him the iconoclast he is intended to be." -- Publishers Weekly