Jonathan Evison, Jess Walter, Jonathan Ames & Antoine Wilson: A Conversation

Name: Jonathan Evison, Jess Walter, Jonathan Ames & Antoine Wilson: A Conversation
Start: 2022-11-19T14:30:00-05:00
End: 2022-11-19T15:30:00-05:00
Location: Livestream + In Person

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This program is being livestreamed from MDC’s Wolfson Campus. For more information about this in-person program, please visit MiamiBookFair.com.

Jonathan Evison’s Small World: A Novel is set against such iconic backdrops as the California gold rush, the development of the transcontinental railroad, and a speeding train of modern-day strangers forced together by fate. In exploring their lives and those of their ancestors, Small World chronicles 170 years of American nation-building from numerous points of view across place and time – and asks whether our nation has made good on its promises. In The Angel of Rome: And Other Stories, Jess Walter tackles the modern condition in a dazzling range of voices, backdrops, and situations. A teenage girl tries to live up to the image of her beautiful, missing mother. A shy 21-old studying Latin in Rome finds himself face-to-face with the Italian actress of his adolescent dreams. And an elderly couple confronts the writer eavesdropping on their conversation. In Jonathan Ames’ The Wheel of Doll: A Novel, Happy Doll is a charming if occasionally inexpert private detective. A veteran of both the Navy and LAPD, he supplements his meager income as a P.I. by working at a local Thai spa that offers “special services.” But he’s out of his depth with one violent patron – and then an old friend from his days as a cop shows up at his door with a bullet in his gut. And in Antoine Wilson’s Mouth to Mouth: A Novel, our narrator listens as Jeff Cook, a former classmate, tells him how his life changed course after he resuscitated a drowning man. Afterward, Jeff needed to learn more about him – and as he did, the paths of the two men come together and diverge in dizzying ways, until the novel’s staggering ending.

Wilson, Antoine

Antoine Wilson is the author of the novels Panorama City and The Interloper. His work has appeared in The Paris Review, StoryQuarterly, Best New American Voices, and the Los Angeles Times, among other publications. He is a contributing editor of A Public Space. In a first-class lounge at JFK airport, the narrator in Mouth to Mouth: A Novel (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster) listens as Jeff Cook, a former classmate, shares the story of his adult life – a life that changed course some years before, the moment he resuscitated a drowning man. After that morning on the beach, Jeff wants to learn more about the man whose life he had saved. But are we agents of our fate – or are we its pawns? He discovers that the man is renowned art dealer Francis Arsenault, and Jeff begins to secretly visit his Beverly Hills gallery. While Francis does not seem to recognize him as the man who saved his life, he nevertheless casts his eye on Jeff, sees something worthy, and takes the younger man under his wing. The paths of the two men come together and diverge in dizzying ways until the novel’s staggering ending.

Ames, Jonathan

Jonathan Ames is the author of the novels I Pass Like Night, The Extra Man, and Wake Up, Sir!, as well as the nonfiction books The Double Life Is Twice as Good: Essays and Fiction, What’s Not to Love?, My Less Than Secret Life, I Love You More Than You Know, and most recently, You Were Never Really Here (adapted into the film starring Joaquin Phoenix). He’s the creator of two TV series, Blunt Talk and Bored to Death, and fought two amateur boxing matches as “The Herring Wonder.” Happy Doll, the title character of A Man Named Doll: A Novel (Mulholland Books), is a charming if occasionally inexpert private detective living beneath the Hollywood sign. A veteran of both the Navy and LAPD, Doll supplements his meager income as a P.I. by working at a local Thai spa that offers its clients “special services.” Armed with his 16-inch steel telescopic baton and biting dry humor, he protects the women who work there from clients who don’t understand the word “no.” But he’s out of his depth with one violent patron – and then an old friend from his days as a cop shows up at his door with a bullet in his gut.

Walter, Jess

Jess Walter is the author of 10 books, including the national bestseller The Cold Millions; the #1 New York Times bestseller Beautiful Ruins; The Zero, a finalist for the National Book Award; and Citizen Vince, winner of the Edgar Award. His work has been published in 35 languages and his short fiction has appeared in Best American Short Stories. We all live like we’re famous now, curating our social media presence, performing our identities, withholding those parts of ourselves we don’t want others to see. In his collection The Angel of Rome: And Other Stories (Harper), Walter tackles the modern condition with a dazzling range of voices, backdrops, and situations. A teenage girl tries to live up to the image of her beautiful, missing mother. An elderly couple confronts the fiction writer eavesdropping on their conversation. A son must repeatedly come out to his senile father while looking for a place to care for the older man. A famous actor in recovery has a one-night stand with the world’s most surprising film critic. And in the romantic title story, a shy 21-year-old studying Latin in Rome finds himself face-to-face with the Italian actress of his adolescent dreams.

Evison, Jonathan

Jonathan Evison is a New York Times bestselling author of six previous novels, including All About Lulu, West of Here, The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance!, Lawn Boy, and Legends of the North Cascades. As a teen, Evison was the founding member of the punk band March of Crimes, which included future members of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. Small World: A Novel (Dutton) is set against the California gold rush, the development of the transcontinental railroad, and a speeding train of modern-day strangers forced together by fate. It is a grand entertainment that asks big questions. In exploring the passengers’ lives and those of their ancestors, Small World chronicles 170 years of American nation-building from numerous points of view. The characters connect in intriguing and meaningful ways, winning, breaking, and winning our hearts again. The result is a historical epic with a Dickensian flair that asks whether our nation has made good on its promises, and whether it is truly possible to meet and survive the choices posed – and forced – by the age. It hits home as it probes at our country’s injustices, big and small, straight through to its deeply satisfying final words.

Jonathan Evison, Jess Walter, Jonathan Ames & Antoine Wilson: A Conversation