Muscle Man A Novel
Muscle Man by Jordan Castro, published by Catapult on September 9, 2025, is a 272-page novel that presents a humorous and suspenseful metaphysical thriller. The story follows Harold, a literature professor grappling with dissatisfaction and fear as he navigates a seemingly idyllic university environment that hides darker truths. Throughout a single afternoon, Harold’s mundane activities—wandering the campus, attending meetings, and reflecting on his life—unfold into a narrative filled with existential questions and a surprising twist.
Readers will find that Muscle Man delves into themes of contemporary masculinity and the critique of higher education, blending humor with philosophical inquiries. As Harold’s thoughts reveal his struggles with strength and weakness, the novel explores the tension between rationality and irrationality, as well as the individual versus the collective. Castro’s portrayal of Harold’s frenetic consciousness invites readers to consider whether his disdain for others stems from personal inadequacies or if there is a more sinister undercurrent at play.
Official synopsis Publisher
A hilarious, suspenseful metaphysical thriller following a day in the life of an English professor who would rather be lifting weights from the author of the cult hit The Novelist
Harold, a middling literature professor at a liberal arts college, lives in a state of dissatisfaction and fear. His colleagues and students evoke nothing but disgust and disdain. None of them understand strength, power, and spiritual actualization like he does. His university’s campus—seemingly picturesque—constantly threatens to reveal something sinister.
Over the course of a single afternoon, he wanders the halls, sits in meetings, steals from a student, and goes to the gym—all while reflecting on his professional and existential situation. With every line of Harold’s frenetic consciousness, his mundane routine transforms into something more foreboding, culminating in an ingenious twist.
Brilliantly imagined and darkly funny, Muscle Man is as much a critique of resentment and contemporary masculinity as a satire on the state of higher education, exploring weakness and strength, rationality and irrationality, the spirit and the flesh, and the individual and the collective.
With his minute-to-minute occupation of Harold’s existential disquietude, Castro imbues the novel’s philosophical inquiries with thrilling suspense. Is Harold a raving lunatic whose disdain stems from his own perilous inadequacies, or is there something truly sinister about his colleagues? When all is said and done, is strength a virtue, or a mirage?
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