THE CRIPPLED MUSE: A Novel of Capra

The Siren's Isle, and a satirically bordered still-life of a coterie of literati and libertines, dominated by the massive presence of Merape Sloane, a famous poet of the 20's now in seclusion, sybilline, impregnable, vain and perverse. To Capri, and the shrine of Merape, comes Horace Beddoes, a provincial pedant on sabbatical from a midwestern college, due for a liberal education. He is a party in the accidental death of Mike McDermott, a writer, when he conceals a clue; he is seduced by the unbridled glamor of Girlie Winters; he gets his chance to write the biography of Merape and in his research, uncovers a long history of spite and scandal as well as the imposture in the identity of his heroine; and he replaces Girlie Winters with Loretta, a more suitable substitute for his romantic inclinations... A gentle caper which is bemused, amused, in its impersonation and parody, this is a mild echo of South Wind.