Four exciting upcoming events! Megan Giddings and Rinker Buck (both at Boswell), David Maraniss at MPL, and Christine Simon for Readings from Oconomowaukee

Monday, August 15, 6:30 pm

Megan Giddings, author of The Women Could Fly
in-person at Boswell - follow this link to register! 

Boswell is pleased to host Megan Giddings, author of Lakewood, for an evening featuring her second novel, The Women Could Fly, a rich blend of fantasy and sharp social commentary that explores the limits patriarchy puts on women and the powers women use to transcend.

Josephine Thomas is contacted by her mother, who disappeared when she was a child and became a famous true crime story that Jo and her father had to live through. And like the rest of America, they don't know if she was kidnapped, murdered, or worse - a witch. Meanwhile, Jo’s future is in doubt. The State mandates that all women marry by the age of 30 or enroll in a registry that allows them to be monitored. With her ability to control her life on the line, she feels as if she has her never understood her mother more.

Reminiscent of the works of Margaret Atwood, Shirley Jackson, and Octavia Butler, a biting social commentary from the acclaimed author of Lakewood that speaks to our times - a piercing dystopian novel about the unbreakable bond between a young woman and her mysterious mother, set in a world in which witches are real and single women are closely monitored.

Megan Giddings is author of Lakewood, one of New York Magazine's top ten books of 2020, an NPR Best Book of 2020, and a finalist for two NAACP Image Awards. She is an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota and her writing has received funding and support from the Barbara Deming Foundation and Hedgebrook.

Tuesday, August 16, 6:30 pm

Rinker Buck, author of Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure
in-person at Boswell - click right here to register. 

Boswell hosts an evening with journalist and adventurer Rinker Buck, author of books such as The Oregon Trail and Flight of Passage, for a conversation about his latest, Life on the Mississippi, an enchanting blend of history and personal travelogue in which Buck builds an authentic wooden flatboat from the early 1800s and pilots it down the Mississippi River, from Pittsburgh to New Orleans.

A modern-day Huck Finn, Buck casts off down the river on the flatboat accompanied by an eccentric crew of daring shipmates. Over the course of his voyage, Buck steers his fragile wooden craft through narrow channels dominated by massive cargo barges, rescues his first mate gone overboard, sails blindly through fog, breaks his ribs not once but twice, and camps every night on sandbars, remote islands, and steep levees. As he charts his own journey, he also delivers a richly satisfying work of history that brings to life the bygone flatboat era of the early 1800s, illuminating the forgotten past of America’s first western frontier.

From the starred Kirkus review: "An invigorating blend of history and journalism informs this journey down Old Man River… Besides being a willing and intrepid traveler, Buck is also an able interpreter of history, and it’s clear that he’s devoured a library of Mississippiana. It all makes for an entertaining journey in the manner of William Least Heat-Moon, John McPhee, and other traveler-explainers. For armchair-travel aficionados and frontier-history buffs, it doesn’t get much better."

Rinker Buck author of The Oregon Trail, Flight of Passage, and First Job. He has written for Vanity Fair, New York, Life, and many other publications, and his work has won the PEN New England Award, the Eugene S Pulliam National Journalism Writing Award, and the Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award.

Wednesday, August 17, 6:30 pm

David Maraniss, author of Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe
In-Person at the Milwaukee Public Library Centennial Hall, 733 N Eighth St - click here to register. 

Boswell Book Company presents the two-time Pulitzer Prize winning journalist David Maraniss, author of bestselling books such as When Pride Still Mattered, for a presentation featuring his latest book, Path Lit by Lightning, a new biography of America’s greatest all-around athlete. Cohosted by Milwaukee Public Library.

Jim Thorpe rose to world fame as a mythic talent who excelled at every sport. He won gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, was an All-American football player at the Carlisle Indian School, the star of the first class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and played major league baseball for John McGraw’s New York Giants. Even in a golden age of sports celebrities, he was one of a kind. But despite his colossal skills, Thorpe’s life was a struggle against the odds. As a member of the Sac and Fox Nation, he encountered duplicitous authorities who turned away from him when their reputations were at risk. But for all his travails, Thorpe did not succumb. The man survived, complications and all, and so did the myth.

From biographer Jane Leavy, author of The Big Fella: "David Maraniss brilliantly rescues Jim Thorpe from myth and prejudice, restoring something more consequential than the Olympic medals stolen from him by small men - his humanity. This is another masterpiece from the master of biography."

David Maraniss is Associate Editor at The Washington Post, a distinguished visiting professor at Vanderbilt University, and author of bestselling biographies of Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Roberto Clemente, and Vince Lombardi. His book They Marched into Sunlight was winner of the J Anthony Lucas Prize and Pulitzer Finalist in History.

Thursday, August 18, 7 pm

Christine Simon, author of The Patron Saint of Second Chances

in conversation with Daniel Goldin and Lisa Baudoin for a virtual event - click here to register now!

Readings from Oconomowaukee, the event series that puts authors in conversation with booksellers, hosts its August edition with an evening featuring Christine Simon, author of The Patron Saint of Second Chances, a charming debut in which the self-appointed mayor of a tiny Italian village is determined to save his hometown no matter the cost. Perfect for fans of Fredrik Backman and Maria Semple.

And be sure to order your copy of The Patron Saint of Second Chances now as well. Click here to order from Boswell. Or, click here and order from Books & Company.

Vacuum repairman and self-appointed mayor of Prometto, Italy (population 212) Signor Speranza has a problem: unless he can come up with 70,000 euros to fix the town’s pipes, the water commission will shut off the water to the village and all its residents will be forced to disperse. So in a bid to boost tourism and revenue he spreads a harmless rumor that movie star Dante Rinaldi will be filming his next project nearby. Unfortunately, the plan works a little too well, and soon everyone in town wants to be a part of the fictional film.

The early praise for Simon’s novel is glowing! From Julia Claiborne Johnson, author of Better Luck Next Time: "The Patron Saint of Second Chances is a rare treasure: both hilariously funny and beautifully written. I was sad to say goodbye to these delightful, large-hearted characters when I turned the final page. Sequel, please." And from People magazine: "A charming farce that highlights the triumph of hope and community in an often unforgiving world."

Christine Simon is a debut author who grew up in a very large (and very loud!) Italian family.

Photo credits
Rinker Buck by Dan Corjulo
David Maraniss by Linda Maraniss
Christine Simon by Juliet Simon