By Dennis Fischman

A Talent to Amuse is a book with a clever setup and a surprisingly touching conclusion.

The setup: a writer, Sherman, has succeeded at making a living (no small feat, there!) by churning out formulaic stories in several genres, under different pen names, but he’s hit writer’s block. What he really wants to do is to write the Great American Novel.

For that, he’s going to need a different muse. Literally.

Because in this book, the nine Muses of classic Greek legend are real, and their many-times-great-grandchildren are real, too – but highly specialized. One of these new muses is Komikos, the guy who’s been inspiring our hero’s humorous genre fiction.

“A Talent to Amuse” by Daniel M. Kimmel. Fantastic Books, 2025.

Another is the lovely Cassie, short for Vinteokaseta. Formerly the muse of Blockbuster Video stores, she is now out of work and (like Sherman) looking for inspiration and reinvention.

The conclusion? I’m not going to spoil it. You can probably see where this is going, yourself. Along the way, though, Sherman and Cassie confer with all nine of the classical muses plus their mother, Mnemosyne, goddess of memory. Each one inspires Sherman to write a short story, all of which appear in the book.

We also meet other modern muses, like the ones who inspire influencers, crossword puzzle composers, and real estate agents.

Yes, author Daniel M. Kimmel himself possesses “the talent to amuse,” as you can see from his inventiveness and sense of humor. A classic piece of advice for authors is to write what you know, and Dan (full disclosure: he’s a local author and a fellow member of Temple B’nai Brith in Somerville) does just that.

His past publications have included books about:

*movies and science fiction (Jar Jar Binks Must Die… and other Observations about Science Fiction Movies);

*movies and aliens who act in them (Shh! It’s a Secret: a novel about Aliens, Hollywood, and the Bartender’s Guide);

*movies and romance (I’ll Have What She’s Having: Behind the Scenes of the Great Romantic Comedies); and,

*classic horror movies and Jewish families (Father of the Bride of Frankenstein).

He draws on every one of those themes here, and more.

You could read this book in one day, as I did, and enjoy yourself the whole time, or you could read it aloud in snatches to someone who will snicker, guffaw, and sigh along with you. It depends on your own talent for amusement.