Talking of Michelangelo
Scheduled for publication by Pierian Springs Press on April 22, 2025.
From the Publisher
Talking of Michelangelo is a mesmerizing journey through the tangled lives of a brilliant but tormented lawyer, his fiercely intelligent wife, and an artist who shaped his past and believed you should not paint what you haven’t experienced. Haunted by forbidden secrets and bound by a childhood vow, these characters’ stories unfold in a dreamlike tapestry of art and memory—where legal briefs clash with vivid canvases, and the ghosts of war loom over every brushstroke.
With its mix of art, law, and war, Talking of Michelangelo masterfully interweaves ambition, loyalty, and the all-consuming power of creativity. Drawing you into a bitter sweet narrative tinged with secrecy, heartbreak, and the triumph of artistry over despair, this is an invitation you won’t want to decline.
From the author
Set against the background of the tumultuous 1960’s, one of the most consequential decades in recent American history, Talking of Michelangelo explores what remains when the obsession to create art collides with a world reeling from the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King; child abuse by predatory priests; the civil rights movement; the Vietnam war; and cultural changes symbolized by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Confronted by the axiom that ‘art offers no choice,’ the characters struggle to make the decisions whose consequences will define their lives as they seek to overcome the dark side of creative genius.
When I was at Columbia University School of Law, riots shut down the University during the 1968 spring semester. I was a member of the task force led by Archibald Cox that produced an exhaustive report regarding the riots, their causes, and Columbia’s dealing with them. Cox, Archibald; et al.. Crisis at Columbia, Vintage Books (1968). Talking of Michelangelo is based on my Columbia experience.
Click here for a podcast about Talking to Michelangelo.