Chigozie Obioma has written biblical parable in his debut novel The Fishermen. The book explores the relationships of four brothers. He read from The Fishermen at WORD Jersey City and wss joined in conversation by Nana-Ama Kyerematen, founder of the website AfriDiaspora.
Fate is at the center of Cecily Wong’s debut novel Diamond Head, an epic story spanning generations of a Sino-Hawaiian family. Wong celebrated the release of the novel at BookCourt with novelist and Sackett Street Writers Workshop founder Julia Fierro.
When Lily King moved to Maine, one of her new neighbors wanted to show off a local bookstore in downtown Portland. They took the trip to the city only to find that the bookstore was in the process of closing. King, trying to be enthusiastic about the store her friend had loved, searched the picked over shelves looking to make a purchase. Unexpectedly, King chose Margaret Mead, A Life, the biography of the anthropologist.
T.C Boyle discussed his latest novel, The Harder They Come, at Barnes and Noble on 86th Street last week. The book is the twenty-fifth book from the author.
Paul Beatty read from his newest novel, The Sellout at Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn. He was joined in conversation by Sam Lipsyte. When Beatty took the podium, he seemed temporarily overcome with emotion for a moment. He explained that he felt similarly overwhelmed recently at a reading in Detroit. The reason, he explains, was the feeling of satisfaction from completing the book: “I realized I was really close to getting what was in my head on the page.”
Josh Cook has spent more than a decade working on his debut novel An Exaggerated Murder. The novel follows private investigator and genius Trike Augustine as he solves a case. Problematically, the clues are so stupid they begin to stump the detective. Cook launched the novel at WORD in Brooklyn.
Blue Stars, the second novel by Emily Gray Tedrowe, explores the lives of military families on the homefront. The novel focuses on two women, Ellen and Lacey, and the other family members left behind after deployment. She read from the book at BooKCourt in Brooklyn.
Mark Doten has until now been better known as a Senior Editor at Soho Press, but last month he launched his own debut novel, The Infernal. The book’s surreal personalities coalesce into a dark and humorous collective narrative. He was joined by Justin Taylor, author of the story collection Flings for a conversation at Greenlight Bookstore.