Is it better to give millions to the arts than improve the life of just one human being?  That’s the question at the core of The Culling, a new novel by Classical TV Executive Editor Stephen Greco.  Set in New York’s fast-lane of media, the arts, and cultural philanthropy, The Culling is the story of John Statella, a panhandler who rises from Salvation Army to Prada, with the help of a benefactor who mysteriously disappears.

“The Culling may seem dark—I mean, there’s pretentiousness and nastiness galore among these supposedly sophisticated people—but it’s really sort of a comedy,” says Greco.  “And you’ve got to laugh sometimes, when people try hard with their money to do good for others but get it wrong.  Real philanthropy is an art of the heart.  Bad things can happen when you fake it.”

The novel takes readers behind the scenes at gallery openings, museum board meetings, classical music concerts, and private dinners hosted by major art collectors, says Greco, as well as one of the last SRO (single-room occupancy) hotels on New York’s Bowery.  According to the jacket of The Culling, “Blending narrative subtlety with self-reflexive irony, The Culling works on two levels.  First, it is the drama of one human being trying to help another. On another level, the novel is a commentary on the ability of good— and good business-- to propagate itself in the modern world.  Like anti-heroes from Balzac and Highsmith, John seduces the reader into empathizing with him even as his actions defy moral standards.”

The Culling is one of three novels by Stephen Greco, written over the last five years, planned for publication and availability on Amazon.com in coming months.  Coming soon are:

• Dreadnought, a novel in the form of six stories, tells of what happens when young consumers and creative talent are stalked by a Big Brand of unprecedented power.  Hint: everybody loses—but the party’s fun while it lasts.  Dreadnought was previously available for direct download on Amazon as six separate stories, via the site’s “Amazon Shorts” program, where they became top-sellers soon after launching.  The novel will be published in January, 2010. 

• Other People’s Prayers, a sequel to The Culling, will be published in March, 2010.  Set in New York and Los Angeles, with glimpses into the tranquil garden of a ruined synagogue and a massive religious rally in Berlin, Other People’s Prayers continues the saga of John Statella and asks how big a movie project can be-- whether good intentions scale up globally, along with profits.

All three novels are appearing for the first time in print and being published on a print-on-demand basis.  The Culling is now available on Amazon.com here.  And a look at the book's launch party, which took place in New York during December '09, is here.

Below: Stephen Greco 

(photograph by Payam Rahimian)