Writers strikes. Fear and Loathing of all-things-AI. Cutbacks within the industry and academia. One could be forgiven for assuming it’s all bad news all the time, so when a genuine feel-good story unfolds within our literary world, we should celebrate accordingly. Ben Purkert, who spent a decade laboring on his first novel, has released it to rapturous and well-deserved acclaim. Check him out on NPR, being interviewed in Esquire, and discussing masculinity (among other topics) with The Boston Globe. You can –and should– explore these and other media hits via his website.
Having read and enjoyed The Men Can’t Be Saved (Abrams/Overlook, Aug 23), it was delightful and enlightening to talk shop with Ben and dive more deeply into themes ranging from toxic males, marketing, authenticity, and commitment to craft. There was considerable ground to cover, but as expected, Ben was open, engaging, and very inspiring. Check out our recorded conversation, below.
The novel follows Seth, an ambitious yet hapless 20-something as he stakes his claim in the alternately exhilarating and soul-sucking world of copywriting. It has drawn inevitable comparisons to Mad Men and, while drawing on lived experience, the author could hardly have concocted a more appropriate thematic arena for Seth’s journey: this hyper-competitive work environment is at once apt metaphor and literal manifestation of the shallow pathologies inherent in marketing (in particular) and contemporary corporate America (in general). The Men Can’t Be Saved follows an at-times unlikeable narrator whom we can’t help rooting for (this is testament to Purkert’s talent), and careens from surreal misadventures to laugh-out-loud dialogue to scenes of tenderness and extreme vulnerability. Ultimately, this novel explores why it’s so difficult for young men to establish intimate relationships (with women, with other men, with themselves), and convincingly reminds us that the key to successful art (and lives) begins with honesty.
Purchase The Men Can’t Be Saved at our independent bookselling partner The Potter’s House.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Seth is a junior copywriter whose latest tagline just went viral. He’s the agency’s hottest new star, or at least he wants his coworker crush to think so. But while he’s busy drooling over his future corner office, the walls crumble around him. When his job lets him go, he can’t let go of his job. Thankfully, one former colleague can’t let him go either: Robert “Moon” McCloone, a skeezy on-the-rise exec better suited to a frat house than a boardroom. Seth tries to forget Moon and rediscover his spiritual self; he studies Kabbalah with an Orthodox rabbi by day while popping illegal prescription pills by night. But with each misstep, Seth strays farther from salvation—though he might get there, if he could only get out of his own way. In his debut novel, Purkert incisively peels back the layers of the male ego, revealing what’s rotten and what might be redeemed. Brimming with wit, irreverence, and soul-searching, The Men Can’t Be Saved is a startlingly original examination of work, sex, addiction, religion, branding, and ourselves.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Ben Purkert’s writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Nation, Poetry, Ploughshares, Kenyon Review, Tin House, and elsewhere. His poetry collection, For the Love of Endings, was named one of Adroit’s Best Poetry Books of the Year. He holds degrees from Harvard and NYU, where he was a New York Times Fellow. He teaches creative writing at Rutgers. Connect with him on Twitter: @BenPurkert
