We are thrilled to welcome Michael Carroll and Aaron Hamburger to the shop! Michael will read from and discuss his new book Stella Maris: And Other Key West Stories. Aaron will read from and discuss his novel Nirvana Is Here. A Q&A and book signing will follow the program.
About Stella Maris: And Other Key West Stories
When Cuban fisherman first spotted the Key West lighthouse floating in Florida waters, they called her Stella Maris, Star of the Sea. It's a beacon that draws people from everywhere seeking the end-of-the-line bohemian oasis that can still be found amidst the condo share towers, chain stores, and Redneck Riviera clientele. And it's a mecca for gay men and the women who love them. Sue Kaufman Prize- winning author Michael Carroll knows the territory intimately. His stories wind in and out of the bars and guesthouses and lives of this singular paradise: a memorial for a drag queen held at the vicar's Victorian leads to uneasy encounters; two southern sisters on a cruise ship holiday are up against the ravages of alcohol, estrangement, and deadly weather. Newly divorced gay men (already a phenomenon) lick their wounds and bask in the island's lasting social twilight. At the all-male, clothing-optional resort, guys of all ages fall into one another's paths, enjoy themselves as they please, and surprise one another on their views and preconceptions. Stella Maris is about the verities of illness and death. The past and its prisoners, AIDS, the young and not so young man's realization of his own mortality. It's about the unpredictable nature of life, and of survival. It's about new beginnings and final recognitions.
About Nirvana is Here:
Have you ever searched for your high school crush online? Two decades after they first met, Medieval Historian Ari Silverman is reconnecting with his high school obsession Justin Jackson, now happily married to a woman and the first African-American CEO of a successful dating website. While preparing to see Justin again, Ari recalls his relationship with him in the segregated suburbs of Detroit during the early 1990s and the secrets they still share. At the same time, he’s also grappling with the fate of his ex-husband, a colleague accused of sexually harassing a student.
In Aaron Hamburger’s Nirvana Is Here, two tales converge as Ari comes to a fateful decision about his past and present, his life and his inner character. Framed by the meteoric rise and fall of the band Nirvana and the #metoo movement, Nirvana Is Here touches on issues of identity, race, sex, and family with both poignancy and unexpected humor, with the sensuality and haunting nostalgia of Andre Aciman’s Call Me By Your Name with the raw emotion of Kurt Cobain’s songwriting.
Email or call for price.
Email or call for price.
