Harriet Klausner's Review Archive
Growing up in Russia before the collapse, Tanya discovered Dostoyevsky andmore significant the great writer's muse. Moving with her mom theprofessor to Brighton beach Brooklyn, Tanya concluded that Dostoyevsky'smuse was his mistress Polina, who became part of The Brothers Karamazov andThe Idiot; the second wife Anna was a secretary stenographer, but obviouslyno inspiration. Tanya decides her goal in life is to be the motivation toa great novelist.
She meets writer Mark Schneider at a book gala and decides he is the one.They have an affair, but as she notes in her "Memoirs of a Muse" he seemsmore preoccupied with physically working out, sex, and partying than inwriting. Tanya's begins to reconsider whether she selected the wrongauthor or perhaps her role as she studies further the influence ofDostoyevsky's muse.
This is a terrific character study told mostly by Tanya with anintermingling look at Dostoyevsky's life. Tanya is a delight from her deepunderstanding about cosmetics in tsarist Russia to her belief that she issomebody's muse. Part amusing satire and part a serious look at roles ininterrelationships, fans who enjoy a well written refreshingly unique tale,will want to read MEMOIRS OF A MUSE.