The Anna Geller Invention

One winter morning, Harvey Painter, a young poet, is visited at home by a fan, who introduces herself as Anna Geller. The two spend hours together talking about his writing. As Anna prepares to leave, she reveals that she too is a poet—a poet who, so far, has written only one poem, titled, Body of Winter, which she gives to Harvey before hastily exiting his apartment and his life.

Thirty years later, an investigative reporter stumbles upon an extraordinary story. For almost three decades, a woman who goes by the name of Anna Geller has secretly visited and given poems to people in countries around the world. The mystery surrounding the poet, whose whereabouts are unknown, along with the unequalled quality of her work, turn Anna Geller into a literary sensation. Her poems, all handwritten, soar in value. Anna Geller conventions are held the world over. Armies of people begin searching for her. Harvey, now a teacher, is swept up in a celebrity-by-association maelstrom and soon becomes the most famous, then infamous, of all the poet’s gift-recipients, particularly after he falls victim to an elaborate scheme to steal Body of Winter.

Brian Prousky’s magnificently rendered novel is both a loving tribute to poets and poetry and withering critique of the cult of celebrity.