Heidi Julavits

Heidi Julavits’ fourth novel, The Vanishers was selected BEST BOOK OF THE MONTH FOR MARCH 2012 by Amazon. I had difficulty choosing a genre for The Vanishers but resolved that lapse with reviews describing it as an “astral detective thriller”…a new genre. The Vanishers is a lot of things: a paranormal detective story, an affecting exposition of familial and female dynamics, and a hilarious satire of academic politics. According to Amazon’s Kevin Nguyen “Heidi has crafted a novel that is as ambitious as it is strange.” After angering her jealous mentor, Julia, an up-and-coming psychic, is exiled from the Institute of Integrated Parapsychology, an elite psychic academy dubbed the Workshop. Subjected to a "psychic attack," Julia is crippled of her powers, until she receives an offer she can't refuse: to team up with her mentor's academic rival to get revenge, while seeking out a mysterious filmmaker who may have a connection to Julia's dead mother. It's a bizarre adventure that takes her to a recovery facility for victims of psychic attacks and which doubles as a spa for plastic surgery patients. The Vanishers is a truly unique, thoroughly imagined astral mystery.
Heidi is co-founder and co-editor of The Believer and author of three other novels. She is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, and she’s taught in the MFA programs of Columbia and Syracuse Universities and at Brooklyn College. (MDGentleReader)… (more)

The new republic Lionel Shriver Lionel Shriver is the author of 10 novels and the recipient of the 2005 Orange Prize for her acclaimed book We Need to Talk About Kevin, recently adapted into a major motion picture. With her gift for psychological portraiture and a knack for skewering timely social phenomena, Shriver's work is "tough, complicated, brilliant," according to The new republic's Ruth Franklin. "Shriver isn’t the kind of writer who lets her themes bubble up opaquely; she seizes them and interrogates them for all they’re worth." Shriver is also a respected journalist whose work has appeared in such publications as The Guardian, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. In her new novel, Shriver examines cults of personality and terrorism in an alternate past. The Vanishers Heidi Julavits Heidi Julavits is co-editor of The Believer, a literary magazine she founded with Dave Eggers, which was described by A.O. Scott as part of "a generational struggle against laziness and cynicism, to raise once again the banners of creative enthusiasm and intellectual engagement." Her anti-snark manifesto Rejoice! Believe! Be Strong and Read Hard!, lobbying against mean-spirited book reviews, appeared in the debut issue. She is the author of three novels, including The Uses of Enchantment, about a young girl's faked abduction,and The Mineral Palace, a depression-era story of sexual corruption and infanticide—both New York Times Notable Books. Her new novel, The Vanishers is a meditation on grief, female rivalry, and the power of a daughter’s love. Parkway Central Library 1901 Vine Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 (between 19th and 20th Streets on the Parkway) This is a FREE event; no tickets or reservations are required. For more information, please call 215-567-4341, or click here

Location: Street: Free Library of Philadelphia Additional: 1901 Vine Street City: Philadelphia, Province: Pennsylvania Postal Code: 19103-5207 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Lee Siegel, Against the Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob.; Nicholson Baker; Heidi Julavits

**$15 general admission and $10 library donors, seniors and students with valid identification**
Join Lee Siegel, Nicholson Baker, Heidi Julavits, and Paul Holdengräber, moderator, in a blistering and wide-ranging discussion of Siegel’s critique of the Internet and the social and cultural conditions from which it sprang. (alibrarian)… (more)