Moving between San Francisco and China, and from unsparing realism to genre-bending delight, Self-Portrait with Ghost (Mariner) considers what it means to live in an age of heightened self-consciousness, seemingly endless access to knowledge, and little actual power. Written during the turbulent years of the Trump administration and the first year of the pandemic, these stories explore intimacy and isolation, coming-of-age and coming to terms with the repercussions of past mistakes, fraying relationships, and surprising moments of connection. Now Jin turns her considerable talents to short fiction, in ten thematically linked stories. Meng Jin’s debut novel, Little Gods, was praised as “spectacular and emotionally polyphonic" (Omar El-Akkad) and “meticulously observed, daringly imagined” (Claire Messud). Meng Jin & K-Ming Chang in Conversation With Rachel Khong Albert will be joined in conversation by Kimberly King Parsons, author of Black Light. It’s also the story of one fearless woman at the crossroads, ruthlessly questioning what she wants and what she’s willing - or not willing - to do to get it. Told over the course of nine menstrual cycles, Elisa Albert’s Human Blues (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster) is a bold, brainy, darkly funny, utterly original interrogation of our cultural obsession with childbearing. Aviva never wanted to be famous, or did she? Meanwhile, her evolving obsession with another iconic musician, gone too soon, might just help her make sense of things. As the album makes its way in the world, the shock of the response from fans and critics is at first exciting - and then invasive and strange. The twist: as much as Aviva wants a child, she is wary of technological conception, and has poured her ambivalence into her music.
On the eve of her fourth album, singer-songwriter Aviva Rosner is plagued by infertility. Thursday, July 14 7pm (PT) / Powell’s City of Booksįrom an author whose writing has been praised as “blistering” ( The New Yorker), “virtuosic” ( The Washington Post), and “brilliant” ( The New York Times) comes a provocative and entertaining novel about a woman who desperately wants a child but struggles to accept the use of assisted reproductive technology - a hilarious and ferocious send-up of feminism, fame, art, commerce, and autonomy. Elisa Albert in Conversation With Kimberly King Parsons