PURE COSMOS CLUB (Hardback)

PURE COSMOS CLUB: A Novel
Matthew Binder
Hardback ISBN: 978-1-7369128-2-9
Publication Date: May 15, 2023

In this biting satire, Matthew Binder takes surreal aim at the poses and pretensions of high art and fashion. With ruthless wit, Binder chronicles the struggles of Paul, an eccentric artist, and his companion dog, a disabled, quiche-obsessed terrier-mix named Blanche. Together they negotiate hilarious scenes of bad parties, bizarre couture, deranged friends, shady deals, unrequited love, sabotage, and inscrutable art. But there may be a way out for Paul when he meets James, a New Age guru and leader of a secretive cult: the Pure Cosmos Club. Yet, every time Paul believes he’s ready for the “Ultimate Level,” James raises the price of entry. Just how far will Paul go for love, for art, and to attain cosmic oneness? 

“Pure Cosmos Club is an inventive, antic picaresque with a satirical eye trained on spiritual and aesthetic hucksterism. Matthew Binder sets them up and knocks them down in this witty, energetic novel. Long live Blanche the dog!” Sam Lipsyte, author of The Ask

“Binder is our American Murakami. He takes tragic themes and makes them hilarious but also mind-blowing, cosmos erupting. Binder’s enormous delight in language and life is irresistible.” Clancy Martin, author of How to Sell

“In the world of Pure Cosmos Club, art is a vain posture, enlightenment is an elaborate con, and delusion is a way of life. Matthew Binder’s ingenious satire captures the absurdities of our fraught moment with a startling mix of laugh-out-loud hilarity and subtle melancholy. It’s a novel you won’t shake anytime soon.” Jeff Jackson, author of Destroy All Monsters