Claire picks: The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris

After reading "Then We Came to the End" I knew I would read whatever Joshua Ferris wrote. Not just because I liked the book so much, but because Ferris was clearly an author with an original viewpoint and a fascinatingly quirky mind. The Unnamed, his second novel, proved my initial response to be true. It is very different from his first novel (most notably it is not a funny book) but it is also very good.

This is the story of Tim Farnsworth, a New York City lawyer living in the suburbs. From the first pages the reader knows that something is wrong with Tim but we don't know what. There's a reason for that: Tim, and his doctors, don't know what's wrong with him either. His condition - or is it a disease? - is unnamed. As it leads Tim to terrifying and dangerous behaviors he must cope with the limits it places on his life, his marriage and his very self. Eventually Tim is stripped of all the things that have once defined his life: family, home and career. It is here, in the later parts of the novel, that Ferris' powerful imagination describes Tim's torment and is its most moving. How Tim and his family deal with his illness is a remarkable and heartbreaking story of tolerance and love.

Megan picks: Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

"The core reason for it all was beauty. Walking was a divine delight. Everything was rewritten when he was up in the air. New things were possible with the human form. It went beyond equilibrium."

It is 1974 in New York City, and Philippe Petit, while tightrope walking between the Twin Towers, is unaware of the lives he is impacting beneath him. Colum McCann's, Let the Great World Spin, is a story of twelve lives effected by Petit's fearless walk. From a family dealing with the wounds of Vietnam, a monk battling with his vows, to a struggling artist; McCann weaves their lives together and beautifully demonstrates the grit, joy and tragedy of the human experience.

Pat L-S picks: Bone Worship by Elizabeth Eslami

When American born and raised Jasmine fails out of college she reluctantly returns to the home of her Iranian father and American mother. She is immediately confronted with her father's (and surprisingly her mother's) determination to plan a "hastegar", an arranged marriage, for her. Jasmine doesn't take this scheme seriously until her suitors start appearing for dinner.

Angry, sarcastic yet intrigued, Jasmine goes through the motions of these arranged meetings, always rejecting or being rejected by the men. Then she meets the one man who keeps coming back.

The more intense story, always in the background, is her search to discover the life of her evasive father, and her continued longing to be close to him. Eslami also manages to weave the richness of Iranian culture into the novel.

Chris picks: Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis

The hopelessly self-destructive James Dixon, on probation at a university in postwar England, has a shot at a modestly successful career as a history professor--provided he doesn't blow it. It doesn't help matters that he has no interest in history, loathes his colleagues, and spends far to much time at the pub. As he careens from one blunder to another, it becomes obvious that Jim's singular talent is for proving that the cover-up is always worse than the crime.

Widely revered as one of the finest campus satires ever written, Lucky Jim was British writer Kingsley Amis' first and possibly best-known novel. Those familiar with the arbitrary politics of academia will find some of the characters queasily familiar. You don't have to be English to appreciate Lucky Jim; you don't even have to have been to college. But it probably helps.

Our event season begins on Tuesday, January 26 with New York Times bestselling author Kate Braestrup, author of Here If You Need Me. Her new book Marriage and Other Acts of Charity, is a unique and unforgettable look into why, and how, we love each other, and proves yet again why Kate Braestrup's writing is inspirational in the best sense.

KATE BRAESTRUP / MARRIAGE AND OTHER ACTS OF CHARITY

TUESDAY, JANUARY 26

7 PM

Our events usually occur on Tuesday evenings at 7PM and are open to the public, as well as being accessible.
We already have a schedule that goes into April and includes Chris Bohjalian and Howard Frank Mosher presenting their new books.

We send events E-MAILS mid-month, or you can check the events section of our WEBSITE for updates. We look forward to seeing you in the audience!