Steven Wright + Colin Quinn: Harold

828 Broadway,New York NY 10003

18 May, 2023

Description

Join us for an in-person event with Academy Award-winning comedian Steven Wright, for the release of his new book Harold. Joining Steven in conversation is comedian and former SNL cast member Colin Quinn. 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 Harold 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------- A uniquely humorous and deeply profound novel from a legendary stand-up comedian that follows the thoughts of a 1960s third grader during a single day at school. From the outside, Harold is an average seven-year-old third grader growing up in the 1960s. Bored by school. Crushing on a girl. Likes movies and baseball—especially the hometown Boston Red Sox. Enjoys spending time with his grandfather. But inside Harold’s mind, things are a lot more complex and unusual. His thoughts come to him as birds flying through a small rectangle in the middle of his brain. He visits an outdoor cafe on the moon and is invited aboard a spaceship by famed astronomer Carl Sagan. He envisions his own funeral procession and wonders if the driver of the hearse has even been born yet. Harold documents the meandering, surreal, often hilarious, and always thought-provoking stream-of-consciousness ruminations of the title character during a single day in class. Saturated with the witticisms and profundities for which Wright’s groundbreaking stand-up has long been venerated, this novel will change the way you perceive your daily existence. To quote one of its many memorable lines: “Everything doesn’t have to make sense. Just look at the world and your life.” Steven Wright has performed stand-up comedy for more than four decades. He won the 1989 Academy Award for Live-Action Short for his film, The Appointment of Dennis Jennings, was nominated for two Grammy Awards for his albums I Have a Pony and I Still Have a Pony, starred in three critically-acclaimed hour-long stand-up specials, and was nominated for two Emmy Awards. His many film and TV appearances include Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show, Late Show with David Letterman, The Larry Sanders Show, Mad About You, The Simpsons, Horace and Pete, Reservoir Dogs, Natural Born Killers, Coffee and Cigarettes, Half Baked and Desperately Seeking Susan. He lives in New England. Colin Quinn is a stand-up comedian from Brooklyn (okay, Park Slope). From MTV’s “Remote Control” to “SNL” to Comedy Central’s “Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn,” Mr. Quinn is not one to take a hint and bow out gracefully. He’s been on Broadway with “Colin Quinn: An Irish Wake” and “Colin Quinn: Long Story Short” (also an HBO special) and off-Broadway with his show “Colin Quinn: Unconstitutional” (available on Netflix) and “Colin Quinn: The New York Story,” directed by Jerry Seinfeld (also available on Netflix). Recent credits include “Trainwreck,” “Girls,” and his web series “Cop Show,” streaming now on LStudio.com. His first book, “The Coloring Book,” is now out from Grand Central Publishing. In January 2019, Colin Quinn premiered his newest one-man show, “Red State Blue State,” to rave reviews at The Minetta Lane Theatre in New York. The special was adapted into CNN’s first comedy special in May 2019 and started streaming on Netflix in August 2019. Photo credit: Colin Quinn