“Apart from being the best stocked, the most imaginative and the widest-ranging gay bookshop in the British IsleSeand perhaps the World, Gay’s the Word is simply a wonderful place to spend time browsing and learning.” Simon Callow
Joseph Olshan and other readings…
Literary novelist Joseph Olshan reads from his new book ‘The Conversion’
From the author of the bestselling ‘Night Swimmer’
A stunning affirmation of art’s ability to ravage and redeem us’ – Vogue
Thursday 2nd October, 7pm.
Please RSVP by phone on 0207 278 7654
Free with complimentary drinks.
Venue: Gay’s the Word
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More book details…
The Conversion – Joseph Olshan
Published by Arcadia, 11.99 PB
Heralded by Ian McEwan as ‘a writer in total command of his narrative’ literary novelist, Olshan, returns with ‘a compelling story of forbidden desire, deception, religion and love’s intoxicating allure.’
Russell Todaro, a young gay American translator, moves to Paris. One night, two men waving gunSeand knives break and enter his Paris hotel room, terrorizing Russell and his much older companion, a famous America poet named Edward Cannon. The intruders, not finding what they seemingly expected, leave without further incident but the baffling, traumatic events overwhelm Cannon who dies in his sleep later that night. Now Russell is left to ponder the meaning of the attack, what to do with the poet’s unfinished, problematic memoir and, perhaps most importantly, how to reconstruct and move forward with his own life.
Hearing of the disturbing circumstances of Cannon’s death, an Italian writer, Marina Vezzoli, invites Russell to recuperate at her villa in Tuscany. But what at first seems like a generous invitation slowly reveals itself to be a calculated offer. Manipulating him, most of all, the poet’s New York publishers who, against the dying man’s wishes, are trying to acquire his unfinished manuscript. Looming over everything is the long and fascinating legacy of Villa Guidi, where during World War II a Jewish family hid in the subterranean cellars, later undergoing a conversion to Catholicism. In an echo of this dramatic history, Russell is forced to undergo a conversion of his own in order to find redemption and meaning in his life.
Joseph Olshan is the award-winning author of eight novels. His first novel was Clara’s Heart, which went to be made a film starring Whoopi Goldberg. His other novels include Nightswimmer and In Clara’s Hands.
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More Events for October…
(ii) Historian Shelia Rowbotham reads from her new biography of gay visionary
‘Edward Carpenter – A Life of Liberty and Love’
The first major biography of the late Victorian sexual and political libertarian
Tuesday 14th October, 7pm.
Free with complimentary drinks.
Venue: Gay’s the Word
No need to RSVP
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(iii) Novelist and comic author of ‘Diary of a Provincial Lesbian’,
Val Lee reads from her new collection of short stories,
‘As You Step Outside’
‘Val Lee reaches parts other comediennes can’t reach’
Thursday 16th October, 7pm.
Free with complimentary drinks.
Venue: Gay’s the Word
No need to RSVP
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