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Marlon James - The Disappearers
Past event
Featured Book
The Disappearers
In 1988, eight men in Kingston, Jamaica, begin rehearsals for a play. Though strangers to one another, they share an inescapable truth: All of them are gay. And they live in a world that refuses to accept them.
One night the men are savagely beaten and one of them is killed. As their bodies heal, the survivors begin to face the hatred and contempt that the violence laid bare. Some try to ignore what happened. Others double down on retribution. Some disappear completely.
In this spellbinding novel, Marlon James has written a propulsive crime story that is also a deeply human account of connection and acceptance. Full of fascinating characters, biting humor, and unapologetic sex, The Disappearers is both a thrilling page-turner and a finely etched portrait of queer life.
This book will be available for purchase at the event.
About This Event
Marlon James is one of the most decorated novelists of the 21st century, known for his novels, A Brief History of Seven Killings and Black Leopard, Red Wolf. He joins us to celebrate his newest work, The Disappearers, an unflinching exploration of queer life in Jamaica during the 1980s and 1990s. You won’t want to miss James as he dives into this deeply human story of men forced to make compromises to survive what the society they live in demands.
Featured Author
Marlon James
Marlon James is the author of the Booker Prize-winning A Brief History of Seven Killings; the National Book Award finalist Black Leopard, Red Wolf; the New York Times-bestselling Moon Witch, Spider King; The Book of Night Women; and John Crow’s Devil. In addition to the Booker Prize, his novels have won the American Book Award, the Los Angeles Times’ Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. The Disappearers is his newest novel. Born in Jamaica, James lives in New York City.
In Conversation With
Lisa Lucas
Lisa Lucas was most recently a senior vice president at Knopf Doubleday, serving as publisher of both Pantheon Books and Schocken Books. Previously, she worked as the National Book Foundation’s executive director, and Guernica’s publisher.
About the Venue
Thalia Hall
Presented by Chicago Humanities
Presented with Seminary Co-Op Bookstore
Pilsen
1807 S Allport St
Chicago, IL 60608
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