Peck & Peck is the story about a young man whose life turns upside down when he is hired by the most prestigious secretive, and dysfunctional poetry journal in the world: the renowned Peck & Peck of New York City.
Batter Gray is worried about his future. Even when he was eleven, his classmates seem to have settled on a goal: doctor, lawyer, broker, engineer. Good jobs that automatically command respect, security, 401Ks. Now Batter is in his early twenties, living in New York City, and he wants something different, something that alienates some readers and bores most. Poetry. And yet- to him and exactly thirty-one editors at a company called Peck and Peck- poetry not only represents the power of humanity but holds the key to its survival.
Batter is named after his mother’s heroic dog. An identical twin who lost his brother at birth, he finds himself confronted by the everyday dualities that make up life: right vs wrong, truth vs lies, rejection vs acceptance. It’s almost as if his dead brother is a reminder: there are always two sides to every story.
It’s 1982, New York City. Crime is on the rise, muggings are in the streets, and Batter Gray, recent college graduate with a skill that no one wants- an ear for poetry- is worried about his future. While all of his friends have real jobs, he’s folding T-shirts at the Gap. As for love? Not unless you count Sallie Mae, the student loan tyrant. He hears from Sallie all the time.
Batter’s new job at Peck & Peck, the most prestigious poetry quarterly in the world, his life moves into the literary fast lane. Soon, Batter is knee-deep in the secret war between two Editors-in-chief, the famous Peck brothers- twins and enemies- as well as being privy to the private affairs of their thirty -nine editors, whose professed mission is the same. Find originality. Reward creativity. Burn the rest. And by burn, they mean incinerate. Because at Peck & Peck, “good” isn’t good enough, “interesting” doesn’t cut it, plagiarists aren’t tolerated and parolees run the mail room. Still want to submit your poem? Go with God.
Peck & Peck by Bonnie Garmus, Manila Press/Scribner Canada 432pages
