LITQUAKE & BOOKSMITH: CHUCK KLOSTERMAN and The Visible Man
Chuck Klosterman
The Visible Man
Where: The Booksmith (1644 Haight Street, San Francisco)
When: Tuesday, October 11, 7:30 PM
Please note:
seats may be reserved by purchasing a copy of The Visible Man in advance from The Booksmith Reserved seats gone, but we'll have lots of standing room this evening!
Presented by The Booksmith and Litquake
Already well-known for his music coverage, sports writing, and cultural commentary, Chuck Klosterman published his first novel Downtown Owl in 2008. It was immediately hailed as “thoroughly engaging” by the Washington Post and “a minor masterpiece” by the Boston Globe. And so it is with great excitement that we welcome him with his second foray into fiction, THE VISIBLE MAN, which makes clear that Klosterman’s literary ambitions and abilities have only widened in the past three years.
Victoria Vick is a therapist living in Austin, Texas when her life is upended by a mysterious new patient. Over the course of several introductory phone calls, he reveals himself slowly and cryptically. She becomes convinced that he is suffering from a complex set of delusions: Y___ (as Vick refers to him throughout the book) claims he is a scientist who was instrumental in the government’s creation of a “cloaking” technology with which he can render himself invisible—and he does, regularly. According to Y___, his practice is to enter the homes of strangers, unseen and unsensed, and watch them leading their lives. The more ordinary, the better. He wants to know what people do when they are alone. Y___’s stories captivate Victoria, and her obsession with this extraordinary, transgressive patient begins to threaten her career, her marriage, and her well-being.
Told in a series of notes, correspondence, and session transcriptions, THE VISIBLE MAN catalogs a relationship that moves from uncertainty to curiosity to concern (and ultimately to fear). Klosterman asks readers to consider the nature of solitude, and what it is we do when we’re alone— or at least during those moments when we believe we’re alone. As with his previous works, he tackles larger issues at every turn: our interaction with pop culture, the influence of media, the human implications of science and technology, and interior issues of voyeurism, normalcy, and reality. In every respect, THE VISIBLE MAN is a modern novel with a point-of-view that simultaneously embraces and rejects the modern world.
Chuck Klosterman is the New York Times bestselling author of seven books, including Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs; Downtown Owl; and Eating the Dinosaur. His debut book, Fargo Rock City, was winner of the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award. He has written for GQ, Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, Spin, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Believer, and ESPN, and regularly writes about sports and popular culture for Grantland.com.
- Street:
- 1644 Haight St.
- City:
- San Francisco ,
- Province:
- California
- Postal Code:
- 94117-2816
- Country:
- United States
