Cat Shook + Jonathan Miles: If We’re Being Honest

828 Broadway,New York NY 10003

19 April, 2023

Description

Join us for an in-person event with Manhattan-based author, Cat Shook, for the launch of her debut novel, If We’re Being Honest. Joining Cat in conversation is journalist and novelist Jonathan Miles. This event will be hosted in the Strand Book Store's 3rd floor Rare Book Room at 828 Broadway on 12th Street. Can’t make the event? Purchase a signed copy of If We’re Being Honest here. STRAND IN-PERSON EVENT COVID-19 POLICY: Masks and vaccination checks are not required for entry. Attendees are welcome to wear a mask if they choose. If you do not have a mask and would like one, The Strand will provide masks at the door. Please note this is subject to change any time before or during the event per the author’s request. -------------------------------------------------------------------- For fans of We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange and All Adults Here by Emma Straub, Cat Shook’s debut novel If We’re Being Honest is the snappy, smart, heartwarming story of the Williams family, and the sweltering summer that rewrote their history. When Gerry, the beloved Williams patriarch, dies suddenly, his grandchildren flock from across the country to the family home in Eulalia, Georgia. But when Gerry’s best friend steps up to the microphone to deliver his eulogy, the funeral turns out unlike anyone expected. The cousins, left reeling and confused, cope with their fresh grief and various private dramas. Delia, recently heartbroken, refuses to shut up about her ex. Her sister Alice, usually confident, flusters when she spots her high school sweetheart, hiding a secret that will change both of their lives. Outspoken, affable Grant is preening in the afterglow of his recent appearance on The Bachelorette and looking to reignite an old flame with the least available person in town. Meanwhile, his younger brother Red, unsure of himself and easily embarrassed, desperately searches for a place in the boisterous family. The cousins’ eccentric parents are in tow, too, and equally lost—in love and in life. Watching over them all is Ellen, Gerry’s sweet and proper widow, who does her best to keep her composure in front of the leering small town. Clever and completely original, If We’re Being Honest reminds you that while no one can break your heart like your family can, there’s really no one better to put you back together. Cat Shook graduated from the University of Georgia in 2016 with degrees in Creative Writing and Mass Media Arts. Born and raised in Georgia, she now lives in Manhattan. This is her first novel. Photo credit: MurphyMade Jonathan Miles' first novel, Dear American Airlines, was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2008. Named a New York Times Notable Book and a Best Book of the Year by the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Onion A.V. Club, and others, Dear American Airlines was a finalist for the QPB New Voices Award, the Borders Original Voices Award, and the Great Lakes Book Award, and was translated into half a dozen languages. Want Not, his second novel, was a New York Times Notable Book and a Kirkus Reviews “Best Books of 2013” selection. It was also named a best book of 2013 by the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, bookish.com, bookriot.com and litReactor.com, and was a finalist for the Mississippi Institute of Arts & Letters Award in Fiction. He is also the author of The Wild Chef, a book on wild game and fish cookery. Miles lives with his family alongside the Delaware River in rural New Jersey. Photo credit: Leah Overstreet