Adam Johnson (1)

Join us for a reading group discussion of The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson!

Left Bank Books

An epic novel and a thrilling literary discovery, The Orphan Master's Son follows a young man's journey through the icy waters, dark tunnels, and eerie spy chambers of the world's most mysterious dictatorship, North Korea.

Parking: Lots one block north and one block east; street parking (meters free after 7pm)

For directions and public transportation information, click here.

Location: Street: Left Bank Books Additional: 399 N. Euclid Ave. City: Saint Louis, Province: Missouri Postal Code: 63108 Country: United States (afegit de IndieBound)… (més)

“The single best work of fiction published in 2012 . . . The book’s cunning, flair and pathos are testaments to the still-formidable power of the written word.”—The Wall Street Journal

An epic novel and a thrilling literary discovery, The Orphan Master’s Son follows a young man’s journey through the icy waters, dark tunnels, and eerie spy chambers of the world’s most mysterious dictatorship, North Korea.

Pak Jun Do is the haunted son of a lost mother—a singer “stolen” to Pyongyang—and an influential father who runs Long Tomorrows, a work camp for orphans. There the boy is given his first taste of power, picking which orphans eat first and which will be lent out for manual labor. Recognized for his loyalty and keen instincts, Jun Do comes to the attention of superiors in the state, rises in the ranks, and starts on a road from which there will be no return.

Considering himself “a humble citizen of the greatest nation in the world,” Jun Do becomes a professional kidnapper who must navigate the shifting rules, arbitrary violence, and baffling demands of his Korean overlords in order to stay alive. Driven to the absolute limit of what any human being could endure, he boldly takes on the treacherous role of rival to Kim Jong Il in an attempt to save the woman he loves, Sun Moon, a legendary actress “so pure, she didn’t know what starving people looked like.”

Part breathless thriller, part story of innocence lost, part story of romantic love, The Orphan Master’s Son is also a riveting portrait of a world heretofore hidden from view: a North Korea rife with hunger, corruption, and casual cruelty but also camaraderie, stolen moments of beauty, and love. A towering literary achievement, The Orphan Master’s Son ushers Adam Johnson into the small group of today’s greatest writers.

About the Author

Adam Johnson teaches creative writing at Stanford University. His fiction has appeared in Esquire, The Paris Review, Harper’s, Tin House, Granta, and Playboy, as well as The Best American Short Stories. His other works include Emporium, a short-story collection, and the novel Parasites Like Us. He lives in San Francisco.

Location: Street: 265 Aragon Ave City: Coral Gables, Province: Florida Postal Code: 33134-5008 Country: United States (afegit de IndieBound)… (més)

Credit: Smeeta Mahanti

Credit: Tamara Beckwith

COME CELEBRATE THE PULITZER PRIZE IN FICTION WITH AWARD-WINNER Adam Johnson and the remarkable debut novel from Anthony Marra

Friday, July 12, 7:30 p.m.

The Orphan Master's Son

A constellation of vital phenomena

We are thrilled to welcome this year's Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction, Adam Johnson, back to Kepler's for an encore reading and a conversation with his colleague and fellow writer Anthony Marra, whose first novel is wowing readers across the country. This evening it's time to celebrate Adam's success (not only the Pulitzer...but the Guggenheim fellowship, the National Book Critics Circle Awards finalist citation....), and we invite you to join the conversation and the raising of glasses to both Adam and his success and Tony Marra's spectacular arrival on the literary scene. Champagne, anyone?

Adam Johnson teaches creative writing at Stanford University. His novel, The Orphan Master's Son, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and a Gold Medal for California Book Awards in the Fiction category. His fiction has appeared in Esquire, The Paris Review, Harper’s, Tin House, Granta, and Playboy, as well as The Best American Short Stories. His other works include Emporium, a short-story collection, and the novel Parasites Like Us. The Orphan Master's Son is a riveting portrait of a world rife with hunger, corruption, and casual cruelty but also camaraderie, stolen moments of beauty, and love.The Orphan Master’s Son performs an unusual form of sorcery, taking a frankly cruel and absurd reality and somehow converting it into a humane and believable fiction. It’s an epic feat of story-telling. It’s thrillingly written, and it's just a thrilling period.” -- Zadie Smith, Los Angeles Times

Anthony Marra is the winner of a Whiting Award, a Pushcart Prize, The Atlantic's Student Writing Contest, and the Narrative Prize, and his work was anthologized in Best American Nonrequired Reading 2012. He holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and is currently a Stegner Fellow at Stanford.

In A constellation of vital phenomena, Anthony Marra takes us to snow-covered Chechnya during the Second Chechen War. The novel, a remarkable decade-spanning debut, opens with eight-year-old Havaa looking on as her father is dragged off by Russian soldiers for a crime he did not commit.

Location: Street: 1010 El Camino Real City: Menlo Park, Province: California Postal Code: 94025-4349 Country: United States (afegit de IndieBound)… (més)

June Book: The Orphan Master's Son (Winner of the Pulitzer)

Buy the book online here: http://www.avidbookshop.com/book/9780812982626

When We Meet:

Third Sunday of the month, 6:15pm to 7:15pm, at Avid Bookshop, 493 Prince Ave., Athens, GA 40601

What We Read:

The Paperback Fiction Book Club reads fiction paperback books. Book club members decide what books to read by voting either in person or via email.

How to Join:

Email Rachel Watkins (avid.athens.rachel@gmail.com) or call the shop (706-352-2060) to join our book clubs. We may have to limit participation so it's important that you tell us if you would like to join.

Why Buy the Book From Avid:

While we don't charge a Book Club membership fee, the only way we can offer you this free service is if you buy the book club books from Avid. If this is a month that you borrowed the book from the library or a friend, we ask that you remember us as you purchase gifts.

Location: Street: 493 Prince Avenue Additional: City: Athens, Province: Georgia Postal Code: 30601 Country: United States (afegit de IndieBound)… (més)