Friends of the Museum

A Novel

By: Heather McGowan

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Coworkers at a legendary but troubled New York City museum struggle with issues large and small over the course of one extraordinary day in this whip-smartnovel that is “satirical and incisive...like nothing you’ve ready before” (Town & Country).

When Diane Schwebe, the director of a major New York museum, is awakened in the early morning by a text message from the museum’s lawyer, it is the start of a twenty-four-hour roller-coaster ride.

Diane has sacrificed many things in her life to help the fading institution stave off irrelevance and financial ruin. In this battle, she’s surrounded by her stalwart supporters: her enigmatic and tireless personal assistant; the museum’s trusty head of security; and its general counsel—a man whose ability to weasel his way out of a jam is matched only by his capacity to avoid learning anything from the experience.

Orbiting Diane is a motley assortment of museum employees, each on the precipice of collapse or revelation: among them a line cook staring down a huge opportunity he’s not sure he wants; a costume curator stuck in an inescapable rut; and the ambivalent curator of the museum’s film program, whose first day on the job might very well be his last.

On this day of the museum’s annual gala, every plate that Diane has kept spinning will fall and by daybreak, someone will be dead.

Wise, surprising, and darkly funny, Friends of the Museum is a kaleidoscopic “marvel” (Mona Awad, author of Bunny) that surges along to the unstoppable tick of the clock, leaving you on the edge of your seat until the final second.

Critic reviews

"Golden Voice Cassandra Campbell narrates this story told almost entirely in dialogue. It takes place at a major New York City museum and spans 24 hours, beginning at 5 a.m. on the day of an important fundraising gala. The various characters grapple with dramas both personal and professional. Campbell creates distinct voices for the vulnerable director, her overworked assistant, the troubled legal counselor, the head of security, the dramatic chef, the overwrought gala designer, the new curator of film who slowly self-destructs, and several other curators. The characters number over 40. The minutes tick by, the tumultuous event ends at 5 a.m. the next day, and the museum staff see their lives come crashing down around them."

Not One Likable Character

The only way I made it to the end if this book was by the grace of an excellent narrator. Ive been in the arts for 50 years and read any book set in my field.
I bought the hard bound version of this book but was having a difficult time getting into the writing. After listening ti the audible sample (excellent reader), I purchased it to give it another go.
It's annoying to read books set in the arts or about artists by people that dont know what they are talking about. This plot was contrived, the characters so emotionally undeveloped it was unimaginable that they could ever hold any job, much less the ones assigned in the book.
There are a few clever insights in the book but they do not feel authentic to the characters that share them. They read more like the author wrote a half dozen clever things and made up ridiculous characters to attribute them to.
The last three hours listening to this book were torture...too long, too unbelievable, unlikable characters. I finished it only because I had literally invested too much money in buying both hardback and audiobook I was determined to try and like it. It didn't work.