Wednesday
June 29 at 12:30 pm
Moderated
by
Annie Pleshette Murphy
John
Searles
Strange
But True
(paperback release)
Reading • Talk • Booksigning
After a smash success in hardcover last summer, John Searles’ national bestselling novel Strange But True now hits bookstores in paperback. In this new format, readers get the added bonus of HarperPerennial’s trademark P.S. section, made all the more unique by the inclusion of the author’s funny and touching waiter diaries, a “Fact or Fiction” section, which reveals the real-life inspiration for the novel, and much, much more.
True to its title, Strange But True takes readers on a captivating journey, jam-packed with strange twists of fate. After a mysterious fall from his New York City apartment, Philip Chase has moved back home with his mother, a bitter woman who never fully accepted the death of her youngest son, Ronnie, five years earlier. Numb from watching too much bad television and trading snipes with his mother, Philip is in stasis until one winter night when Melissa–Ronnie’s former girlfriend–arrives with shocking news. She is pregnant. And the baby is Ronnie’s. To find the truth, Philip and his mother must confront not only Melissa’s past but their own – a poignant and emotional journey, filled with twists and surprises, that will change them irrevocably. At once a moving story of faith and redemption and a heart-stopping work of suspense, Strange But True confirms John Searles’ place among the most gifted voices of his generation.
John
Searles is the Deputy Editor of Cosmopolitan magazine where
he oversees all book excerpts and reviews. His essays and articles
have appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times and other
national newspapers and magazines. He has appeared frequently on such
programs as Today Show Weekend Edition, CBS's The Early
Show and Live!
with Regis and Kelly to discuss his favorite book selections. With
the 2001 publication of his nationally bestselling debut novel Boy
Still Missing, John Searles was named a Time magazine "Person
to Watch," a
Daily News "New Yorker to Watch" and a Gotham magazine "Writer
to Watch." Both
ofhis novels have been optioned for film. John Searles lives in New YorkCity.
WORD FOR WORD is a Bryant Park lunchtime series presented in cooperation with Coliseum Books. Notable authors discuss their newest books at the Bryant Park Reading Room, alongside 42nd Street between 5th and 6th Avenues. Following the readings, the authors will sign books, for sale on site from Coliseum Books.
In case of rain, this event will be moved to the Coliseum Books Café.