A McSWEENY'S EVENING with JESSICA ANTHONY and CHRIS ADRIAN
Jessica Anthony’s
The Convalescent is the story of a
small, bearded man selling meat out of a bus parked
next to a stream in
suburban Virginia…and also, somehow, the story of 10,000 years of Hungarian
history. Anthony, the inaugural winner of McSweeney’s
Amanda Davis Highwire Fiction Award, makes an unforgettable debut with an
unforgettable hero: Rovar Ákos Pfliegman -- unlikely bandit, unloved lover, and
historian of the unimportant.
“By the time you come to leave Anthony’s curiously warped world of grumpy mute dwarves, medieval giants and packaged meat, you’ll find yourself wishing that real life was actually this vibrant and colourful.” —Spike Magazine
“Jessica Anthony is a
writer possessed of mind-bending talents. Inconceivably,
she’s written a novel that’s innocent and wise, grave and hilarious, bleak and hopeful, fast-paced and meditative, heartbreaking and heart healthy, evanescent and concrete.” —Heidi Julavits
“The Convalescent is a fleshy fable spinning in and out of its own enormous, fabulous history. It is lush, cranky, and powered by dark, sweet humor. Mesmerizing. And a lot of fun. I enjoyed it completely.” —Katharine Dunn (author of Geek Love)
Read the Rumpus interview here.
Chris Adrian’s
most recent book is A Better Angel.
In this inventive collection of stories, he treads the terrain of human
suffering -- illness, regret, mourning, sympathy -- in the most unusual ways. A
bereaved twin starts a friendship with a homicidal fifth grader in the hope
that she can somehow lead him back to his dead brother. A boy tries to contact
the spirit of his dead father and finds himself talking to the Devil instead. A
ne'er-do-well pediatrician returns home to take care of his dying father, all
the while under the scrutiny of an easily-disappointed heavenly agent. With A
Better Angel's cast of living and dead characters, at once
otherworldly and painfully human,
- Street:
- The Booksmith
- Additional:
- 1644 Haight Street
- City:
- San Francisco ,
- Province:
- California
- Postal Code:
- 94117
- Country:
- United States
How to Reserve a Seat for an Event in the Store
We offer limited reserved seating for anyone purchasing a copy
of an event’s featured book in advance from The Booksmith.
In the store: let us know you’d like a reserved seat
when you make your purchase prior to the event date.
By telephone: let us know you’d like a reserved seat
when you make your purchase prior to the event date.
By email: let us know you’d like a reserved seat
when you make your purchase prior to the event date.
Online: when you place your order via Booksmith.com,
add “reserved seat for talk on [date]” to the comments field.
NB: if you choose the ‘pay in store’ option, we cannot guarantee
a reserved seat. If you want to be certain to have a reserved seat,
we suggest you choose the ‘pay with credit card’ option.
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Please note this offer provides one reserved seat for each book purchased.










