Prairie Lights Bookstore

Please join us for a reading and conversation wtih Michelle Herman to celebrate the release of her book Close-Up. She will be joined in conversation by author and magician Joshua Jay.

“In her captivating new novel Close-Up, Michelle Herman unfolds a complex family history in which abandonment has caused painful estrangements and unexpected alliances. With subtle wit and unshakeable confidence, Herman demonstrates the alternating forms a family can take: a refuge, a prison, a solace, one at a time or all at once, and right before your eyes. Close-Up is a magic act of a novel, and not just because its main character is a magician.”
––Valerie Martin, author of Property and I Give It To You

MICHELLE HERMAN is the author of the novels Missing, Dog, and Devotion and the collection of novellas A New and Glorious Life, as well as three essay collections–The Middle of Everything, Stories We Tell Ourselves, and Like A Song–and a book for children, A Girl’s Guide to Life. She writes a popular parenting column for Slate and has taught creative writing for many years at Ohio State. She lives in Columbus, Ohio.

JOSHUA JAY has performed on stages in more than 100 countries. He is a headliner at Hollywood’s Magic Castle and a former World Champion in Sleight-of-Hand. He is the author of MAGIC: The Complete Course and, for children, Big Magic for Little Hands. He consulted on illusions for Game of Thrones and helped the US Postal Service with their “Art of Magic” postage stamps. Joshua has performed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with James Corden, and he fooled Penn & Teller on their hit show, Fool Us, and he starred in his own off-Broadway magic show, Six Impossible Things.