While living in NYC, I knew several homeless people, all of whom were perfectly normal, even successful people who decided to live outside society. For this book, I wanted to see what a society-based artist would do if his "hero" was found to be living on the streets.
“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
Orth's ambition to succeed in the art world is a Herculean fight in our secular age, and he does battle with adversaries as dangerous in their way as anything Odysseus faced: critics, rivals, and a mentor he's not sure he can trust.
Packed with wit, emotion, and memorable characters, What Beauty is a rewarding read for people who are up to the challenge.
–– Steve Farrell, author of Nothingness
For me, the most beautiful parts of the prose were often the simplest. In these passages, Beyer’s connection to his characters shone through without artifice – pure, clean, honest. This man has a voice that will be heard more and more in the future.
–– Andrea Flory, Goodreads
Mark Beyer's use of descriptive language to create his scenes took me back to the days when I gorged myself on classic literature.
–– Carl Purdon, author of The Night Train