Kate Christensen appeared last night at the wonderful independent bookstore Mc Nally Jackson in Manhatten to discuss and sign her recent book
The Astral (Doubleday, 2011)
, on the occasion of its paperback release. She started the book, which deals with marriage problems and is set in Brooklyn, knowing she was leaving Brooklyn but unaware her own marriage would be ending soon. Christensen's wonderful laugh is reason enough to go see her if she comes through your town.
Christensen, who won the
2008 PEN/Faulkner Award for her fourth novel, The Great Man, has a winning, charismatic personality and her interview revealed some interesting points about the intersection of her writing and her personal life. A longtime resident of the Brooklyn neighborhood of Greenpoint where the novel is set, Christensen wrote the book as she was in the process of moving to Portland, Maine where she lives now. She was intrigued by the stories she heard about The Astral, a really exisiting apartment building in Greenpoint, but has never set foot inside. Below is the cover of the first edition of The Astral.
Christensen's work has moved to more fully embrace a theme long present in her work--food!--and she now writes a
sort of food blog which is worth a look. She is working on a food related memoir right now. You can read up on her and her work
here and
here.
Below is the signed title page; pretty cool flourish!
1 comment:
I was surprised The Astral didn't get more attention during the 2011 award/best of year, given the success of her recent books. Sounds like a good event, and she's high on my list of writer's to watch.
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