Book.' -Julie Schumacher, author of Dear Committee Members and The Shakespeare Requirement 'Brilliant. dazzler of a debut novel.' - Shelf Awareness 'Antonia Angress is so talented, and her depiction of young artists-with their egos and inspirations and ambitions-is unforgettably impressive. Angress so deftly portrays the splendor and squalor of trying to create something great in the face of rampant capitalism, of love and lust in the face of tooth-and-claw competition.' -Electric Lit 'Antonia Angress has written her exceedingly good debut novel, a shrewd and expertly sustained rumination on what it takes to be a self-supporting artist and whether it's even worth it. 'Donna Tartt's The Secret History meets Meg Wolitzer's The Interestings in this entrancing portrait of 3 young artists who meet at an elite college at the height of the Occupy movement. With a canny, critical eye, Sirens & Muses overturns notions of class, money, art, youth, and a generation's fight to own their future.

In the process, they must find either their most authentic terms of life-of success, failure, and joy-or risk losing themselves altogether. Now all must struggle to find new identities in art, in society, and among each other. When Preston concocts an explosive hoax, the fates of all four artists are upended as each is unexpectedly thrust into the cutthroat New York art world. But Karina also can't shake her fascination with Preston Utley, a senior and anti-capitalist Internet provocateur, who is publicly feuding with visiting professor and political painter Robert Berger-a once-controversial figurehead seeking to regain relevance.

Gradually, Louisa and Karina are drawn into an intense sensual and artistic relationship, one that forces them to confront their deepest desires and fears. Complicating matters is Louisa's unexpected attraction to her charismatic roommate, Karina Piontek, the preternaturally gifted but mercurial daughter of wealthy art collectors. Louisa Arceneaux is a thoughtful, observant nineteen-year-old when she transfers to Wrynn as a scholarship student, but she soon finds herself adrift in an environment that prizes novelty over beauty. But at the elite Wrynn College of Art, students paint and sculpt in a rarefied bubble. a deeply relatable and profoundly enjoyable read, one drenched in prismatic color and light.'-Kristen Arnett, New York Times bestselling author of With Teeth FINALIST FOR THE MINNESOTA BOOK AWARD * ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Glamour, PopSugar, Debutiful It's 2011: America is in a deep recession and Occupy Wall Street is escalating.

Four artists are drawn into a web of rivalry and desire at an elite art school and on the streets of New York in this 'gripping, provocative, and supremely entertaining' ( BuzzFeed ) debut 'Captures the ache-inducing quality of art and desire.

Sirens and muses by antonia angress