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Live at The Newberry Library on Thursday, April 13, 2023: Rebecca Makkai and Meg Wolitzer —Novelists on the Craft of Writing

Award-winning authors Rebecca Makkai and Meg Wolitzer will reflect on their work and growth as authors.

This program will be held in-person at the Newberry and livestreamed on Zoom. The online version of this event will be live captioned. Please register here.

This installment of “Conversations at the Newberry” features award-winning novelists Rebecca Makkai and Meg Wolitzer.

In this event, Chicago author Rebecca Makkai (I Have Some Questions for You, The Great Believers) will interview New York-based and New York Times bestselling author Meg Wolitzer (The Female Persuasion, The Interestings) about a life in books, her growth as an author, her film adaptations—including 2017’s The Wife—and her new role as host of Public Radio’s popular Selected Shorts podcast.

This program also marks the launch of a new series curated by Rebecca Makkai and StoryStudio, which will pair major visiting authors in conversation with local discussion partners. Unlike bookstore or festival events promoting an author’s latest book, these evenings will highlight the author’s whole career, with a focus on the craft of writing. Perfect for readers and writers alike, each event will celebrate one author’s work—a glimpse behind the creative curtain, a chance to ask questions, and an opportunity to mingle with other literary folk. You’ll also be able to purchase books and have them signed.

 

The event, generously sponsored by Sue and Melvin Gray and presented in collaboration with StoryStudio Chicago, is free to the public.

Makkai’s latest book, I Have Some Questions for You, along with her 2018 novel The Great Believers, are available for purchase at the Newberry Bookshop.

Wolitzer’s novels, The Female Persuasion (2018) and The Interestings (2013) are available for purchase at the Newberry bookshop.

SPEAKERS

Rebecca Makkai is the Chicago-based author of the novels The Great Believers, a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award,?The Hundred-Year House, and The Borrower. She is on the MFA faculties of Sierra Nevada College and Northwestern University and Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago. Join her at SubMakk (it’s a Substack!)

Meg Wolitzer is the New York Times-bestselling author of The Interestings, The Uncoupling, The Ten-Year Nap, The Female Persuasion, The Position, The Wife, and Sleepwalking. She is also the author of the young adult novel Belzhar.

Posted in News on April 12 2023

I Have Some Questions For You Available Now!

Penguin Random HouseExile In Bookville (Signed Copies Available)
Lake Forest Bookstore (Signed Copies Available) | Libro.fm (audio) 
Amazon Audible

Book Club Kit 

A successful film professor and podcaster, Bodie Kane is content to forget her past — the family tragedy that marred her adolescence, her four largely miserable years at a New Hampshire boarding school, and the 1995 murder of a classmate, Thalia Keith. Though the circumstances surrounding Thalia’s death and the conviction of the school’s athletic trainer, Omar Evans, are the subject of intense fascination online, Bodie prefers — needs — to let sleeping dogs lie.

But when The Granby School invites her back to teach a two-week course, Bodie finds herself inexorably drawn to the case and its increasingly apparent flaws. In their rush to convict Omar, did the school and the police overlook other suspects? Is the real killer still out there? As she falls down the very rabbit hole she was so determined to avoid, Bodie begins to wonder if she wasn’t as much of an outsider at Granby as she’d thought — if, perhaps, back in 1995, she knew something that might have held the key to solving the case.

Click here to purchase the book that The San Francisco Chronicle calls “Thought-provoking, deeply unsettling and undeniably riveting…A fully immersive, addictive whodunit.”

Posted in News on February 21 2023

Raves for I Have Some Questions For You in The New Yorker + more!

Click here to purchase the book that the San Francisco Chronicle calls “Thought-provoking, deeply unsettling and undeniably riveting…A fully immersive, addictive whodunit.”

Praise for I Have Some Questions For You:

“What distinguishes Makkai’s turn is her detective framing: she understands that every high school, with its indelible characters and astronomical-seeming stakes, is a crime scene.” —The New Yorker

“[Makkai’s] prose is lean yet lush, with short, incantatory chapters and sentences as taut as piano wire.” —New York Times

“A twisty, immersive whodunit perfect for fans of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History.” —People (print article 2/27 issue)

“Enthralling.” —Wall Street Journal

“[An] irresistible literary page-turner.” —The Boston Globe

“Bewitching.” —Vanity Fair

“[I Have Some Questions for You] calls into question our relationships to memory and power while also challenging readers to reconsider how we think about race, sex, and class.” —Time

“Thought-provoking, deeply unsettling and undeniably riveting . . . Part #MeToo manifesto, part true-crime page-turner, part campus coming-of-age, [I Have Some Questions for You] serves up compelling insights about the fallibility of memory and the slippery nature of truth . . . it’s a fully immersive, addictive whodunit.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“Makkai’s triumph of a novel mixes clever storytelling with an exploration of consent, control and memory . . . satisfying and cleverly multi-layered . . . combines the smarts of literary fiction with the thrills of a whodunnit, topped with all the divertissements of the best boarding school-set dramas.” —Financial Times (London) 

“Makkai has crafted an un-put-downable, captivating boarding school mystery novel with podcasting, teaching, race, divorce, parenting, professional drive, and teen dynamics as undercurrents . . . The writing in this book is absolutely A+ sensational. Pure perfection.” —Zibby Owens, GoodMorningAmerica.com 

“Dark academia meets state of America in this brilliant, original novel.” —Daily Mail

“An enthralling mystery, an interrogation of the past, an entrancing campus novel, I Have Some Questions for You is a propulsive page-turner.” —B&N Reads

“This psychological thriller hits all the high notes, complete with at least a few revelations you won’t see coming.” —Good Housekeeping

“The Secret History meets Serial…[in this] modern campus novel, in which a woman goes back to her old boarding school to teach a class on podcasting and winds up reliving—and relitigating—her own youth and the murder of a classmate.” —LitHub

“[An] addictive page-turner.” —O Quarterly

“Clever and deeply thoughtful . . . a deliciously complex reckoning . . . [I Have Some Questions for You] is sure to be a hit.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A thought-provoking and delicious tale of life and death and justice that very well may have gone sideways.” —Library Journal (starred review)

“Engrossing . . . a well-plotted indictment of systemic racism and misogyny craftily disguised as a thriller and beautifully constructed to make its points.” —BookPage (starred review)

“A beguiling campus novel . . . Chilled as the deep New England winters during which it takes place and twisty with the slowly found and then suddenly illuminated branches of memory, Makkai’s rich, winding story dazzles from cover to cover.” —Booklist (starred review)

“Every year, I look for the novels that truly respect their victims, and think carefully about the tropes of true crime; for 2023, [I Have Some Questions for You] is that novel.” —Molly Odintz, CrimeReads

“Makkai’s novel takes on some of the defining issues of its time […] without battering readers with them. Instead, Makkai carefully winds her themes around her story’s scaffolding, which strengthens her masterly plot even more.” —Shelf Awareness

“[Makkai adds] intriguing layers of complication . . . Well plotted, well written, and well designed.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Part boarding school drama, part forensic whodunnit, I Have Some Questions for You is a true literary mystery—haunting and hard to put down.” —Jennifer Egan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Visit from the Goon Squad and The Candy House

“I’ve been waiting years for a book like this! You will laugh, think, think again, cry and stay up all night finishing it. Unputdownable and unforgettable. Makkai has written the book of the season.” —Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less and Less Is Lost

“Both a deeply satisfying crime story and a thoughtful, even provocative, novel of ideas, I Have Some Questions for You narrates one woman’s interrogation of her own past while in turn posing difficult questions directly to its reader: about sex, power, privilege, and the ambient violence of contemporary American life. What a feat.” —Rumaan Alam, New York Times bestselling author of Leave the World Behind

“Some books are so universal that they feel bizarrely specific: I read I Have Some Questions for You as if it was written just for me, but I can’t imagine who wouldn’t love it. Timely, provocative, nuanced, generous—Rebecca Makkai astonishes once again with the perfect combination of brains and heart.” —Laura Lippmann, author of Dream Girl

“Rebecca Makkai’s extraordinary storytelling gifts are on full display in I Have Some Questions for You, a tense, sharply drawn, and impeccably plotted literary mystery andan urgent, propulsive story of the collision of gender, race, and class in a New England boarding school. I loved walking alongside narrator Bodie Kane—angry, obsessive, struggling with her own traumatic memories—in her imperfect attempts to reckon with a past she longs to leave behind.” —Elizabeth Wetmore, New York Times bestselling author of Valentine

“One of the things I love most about Rebecca Makkai’s writing is her absolutely engaging voice; reading her books feels like hearing a well-told story by a longtime friend. This book—through the voice of its beautifully complex narrator, Bodie Kane—brings readers along on a journey they won’t forget.” —Liz Moore, New York Times bestselling author of Long Bright River

Posted in News on February 20 2023

I Have Some Questions For You – Book Club Kit

 

If you’re reading I Have Some Questions For You with your book club, please enjoy the IHSQFY Book Club Kit!  Download the IHSQFY Book Club Kit Here!

Posted in News on February 19 2023

I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU BOOK TOUR 2023

I Have Some Questions For You February & March Tour Dates: 

Tuesday, February 21, 2023: IN PERSON Presented by The Center For Fiction  –  Brooklyn, NY – The Center For Fiction *ticketed event

Wednesday, February 22, 2023: IN PERSON Literary in the Lounge Series – Portsmouth, NH – The Music Hall of Portsmouth *ticketed event

Thursday, February 23, 2023: IN PERSON Presented by Brookline Booksmith – Boston, MA – The Coolidge Corner Theatre *ticketed event

Saturday, February 25, 2023: IN PERSON Presented by WBEZ + Exile in Bookville – Chicago, IL – The Apollo Theatre  *ticketed event

Monday, February 27, 2023: VIRTUAL –  7pm ET – Presented by Midtown Scholar + Prairie Lights + Print + Books & Books

Tuesday, February 28, 2023: IN PERSON and VIRTUAL Arts & Letters Live  – Dallas, TX – Dallas Museum Of Art, Horchow Auditorium *ticketed event

Wednesday, March 1, 2023: IN PERSON Presented by Rakestraw Books – Danville, CA – Rakestraw Books

Thursday, March 2, 2023: IN PERSON Presented by Towne Center Books – Livermore, CA – Wingen Bakery  (10AM)*ticketed event

Details forthcoming.

Thursday March 2, 2023: IN PERSON Presented by Green Apple Books – San Francisco, CA – Green Apple Books on the Park (7PM) *ticketed event

Friday, March 3, 2023: IN PERSON – Coronado, CA –  Coronado Public Library  *ticketed event

Saturday, March 4 – Sunday, March 5, 2023: IN PERSON – Tucson, AZ – Tucson Festival of Books 

Monday, March 6 – Tuesday, March 7, 2023: IN PERSON – Charlotte, NC – Queens University *ticketed event

Details forthcoming.

Wednesday, March 8, 2023:  IN PERSON Presented by Third Place Books– Seattle, WA – Third Place Books 

Sunday, March 12- Monday, March 13, 2023:  IN PERSON Books Sold by Poison Pen – Phoenix, AZ- Brandeis National Committee Book and Author Luncheon *ticketed event

Tuesday, March 14, 2023:  IN PERSON Presented by Tattered Cover – Denver, CO – Tattered Cover  *ticketed event

Tuesday, March 21, 2023:  IN PERSON Presented by The Book Stall – Winnetka, IL – The Book Stall 

Wednesday, March 22, 2023:  IN PERSON Presented by Wisconsin Book Festival & A Room of One’s Own Books  – Madison, WI- Madison Public Library

Thursday, March 23, 2023:  IN PERSON Presented by Left Bank Books – St. Louis, MO – St. Louis Ethical Society *ticketed event

Tuesday, March 28, 2023:  IN PERSON and VIRTUAL  “Get Lit Book Club” Presented by WNYC and New York Public Library – New York, NY – Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library

MORE EVENTS COMING SOON!

 

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by TIME, NPR, USA Today, Elle, Newsweek, Salon, Bustle, AARP, The Millions, Good Housekeeping, and more

The riveting new novel from the author of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist The Great Believers

A successful film professor and podcaster, Bodie Kane is content to forget her past—the family tragedy that marred her adolescence, her four largely miserable years at a New Hampshire boarding school, and the murder of her former roommate, Thalia Keith, in the spring of their senior year. Though the circumstances surrounding Thalia’s death and the conviction of the school’s athletic trainer, Omar Evans, are hotly debated online, Bodie prefers—needs—to let sleeping dogs lie.

But when the Granby School invites her back to teach a course, Bodie is inexorably drawn to the case and its increasingly apparent ?aws. In their rush to convict Omar, did the school and the police overlook other suspects? Is the real killer still out there? As she falls down the very rabbit hole she was so determined to avoid, Bodie begins to wonder if she wasn’t as much of an outsider at Granby as she’d thought—if, perhaps, back in 1995, she knew something that might have held the key to solving the case.

In I Have Some Questions for You, award-winning author Rebecca Makkai has crafted her most irresistible novel yet: a stirring investigation into collective memory and a deeply felt examination of one woman’s reckoning with her past, with a trans?xing mystery at its heart. Timely, hypnotic, and populated with a cast of unforgettable characters, I Have Some Questions for You is at once a compulsive page-turner and a literary triumph.

Posted in News on January 17 2023

Signed & Personalized Rebecca Makkai Books Available from Lake Forest Bookstore

As the 2020 Holiday Season approaches, I’ve partnered with Lake Forest Bookstore to offer signed, personalized, and dedicated copies of my books!

To order a signed copy of any of my books:

  1. Head to LakeForestBookstore.com  (if you click the hyperlink it will take you straight to my author page on their site!)
  2. Add any and all of my books to your cart
  3. When you check out, in the “notes” section before you complete your order, include any personalization or dedication requests in that box!
  4. Complete your purchase and be everyone’s favorite gift giver this year.

Three cheers for supporting indie bookstores!

-Rebecca

Posted in News on November 23 2020

Rebecca Makkai’s 2020 Literary Christmahanukwanzivus Gift Guide

Since indie bookstores need us to order our holiday gifts NOW, and since books are easy to wrap and store and ship, here’s my attempt at a 2020 Literary Christmas/Hannukah/Kwaanza/Festivus gift guide!

To find a local bookstore near you, or your giftee, check out Indiebound!

While most indie bookstores will wrap books for you, BookBub, has some excellent ideas for book wrapping yourself!

Due to my judging duties this year, I am not recommending any new American fiction, but I know you can find that on your own! 

Now, to the suggestions!

Continue reading ?

Posted in Media, News on October 12 2020

They Were Warriors | Chicago Magazine

Click here to read “They Were Warriors”

I’m so thrilled to share this, finally. I compiled an oral history for Chicago Magazine of the 1990 ACT UP demonstration that’s a pivotal scene in The Great Believers. This month marks its 30th anniversary, and I had no idea as I worked on it how much more relevant these stories of health care battles would be by the time the article appeared.

This was the major project of my winter, and I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder of anything I’ve published. That’s largely because very few of these words are my own; I’m deeply indebted to Owen Keehnen, Lori F. Cannon, William McMillan, Steve Migalski, Roberto Sanabria, Justin Hayford, Mary Patten, Jeff Edwards, Jeanne Kracher, and Saundra Johnson for their words and time and memories, as well of course as their ongoing activism. Writing this was an education in so many ways.

I hope you’ll read this (it’s empowering, I do promise) and share their words widely. Today is World Health Day; let’s keep fighting, in honor of the past and the future.

-Rebecca

Posted in Essays, Media, News on April 7 2020

POSTPONED & CANCELLED EVENTS: April + May 2020

The following events have been cancelled or postponed:

April 3, 2020: OAH 2020 Annual Meeting – CANCELLED

April 17, 2020: W&L Tom Wolfe Weekend – CANCELLED (we hope to reschedule in the fall!)

April 23, 2020: The Lakeland University Community Book Read – POSTPONED (date TBD)

April 26, 2020: Literature for All of Us Benefit: Spring Brunch – POSTPONED (date TBD)

May 1, 2020: Writing On The Door Fiction Conference – CANCELLED

June 2020 : Lit Camp – CANCELLED

When rescheduled event dates are confirmed and announced, I will update my calendar and website with the new event information.

Posted in News on March 20 2020

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