The Men Can’t Be Saved: A Novel

“Nails down the hypocrisies of modern masculinity & capitalism with the graceful hand of poet.” —ALEXANDRA KLEEMAN 

“Purkert’s writing is a gift & it shines through these pages.” —HANIF ABDURRAQIB

“Ben Purkert's The Men Can't Be Saved is a work of wit & timely power. Faith & modernity, capitalism & masculinity, sex & identity—this novel has it all, & gets away with it. The style & the intellect herein mark the coming of a major new talent.”— Darin Strauss, author of The Queen of Tuesday

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A knockout debut novel that tackles a haunting question: What do our jobs do to our souls?

Seth is a junior copywriter whose latest tagline just went viral. He’s the agency’s hottest new star, or at least he wants his coworker crush to think so. But while he’s busy drooling over his future corner office, the walls crumble around him. 

When his job lets him go, he can’t let go of his job. Thankfully, one former colleague can’t let him go either: Robert “Moon” McCloone, a skeezy on-the-rise exec better suited to a frat house than a boardroom. Seth tries to forget Moon and rediscover his spiritual self; he studies Kabbalah with an Orthodox rabbi by day while popping illegal prescription pills by night. But with each misstep, Seth strays farther from salvation—though he might get there, if he could only get out of his own way. 

In his debut novel, Purkert incisively peels back the layers of the male ego, revealing what’s rotten & what might be redeemed. Brimming with wit, irreverence, & soul-searching, The Men Can’t Be Saved is a startlingly original examination of work, sex, addiction, religion, branding, & ourselves.

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Ben Purkert is the author of the poetry collection For the Love of Endings. He is the founder of Back Draft, a Guernica interview series focused on revision and the creative process.