Program Type:
Book DiscussionAge Group:
AdultsProgram Description
Event Details
*THIS IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM*
We cannot wait for you to join us as we chat with award-winning and bestselling author Xochitl Gonzalez about her newest novel Anita de Monte Laughs Last.
Anita de Monte Laughs Last is a propulsive, witty examination of power, love, and art, daring to ask who gets to be remembered and who is left behind in the rarefied world of the elite. In 1985, Anita de Monte, a rising star in the art world, is found dead in New York City; her tragic death is the talk of the town. Until it isn’t. By 1998 Anita’s name had been forgotten―certainly by the time Raquel, a third-year art history student was preparing her final thesis. On College Hill, surrounded by privileged students whose futures are already paved out for them, Raquel feels like an outsider. Students of color, like her, are the minority there, and the pressure to work twice as hard for the same opportunities is no secret. But when Raquel becomes romantically involved with a well-connected older art student, she finds herself unexpectedly rising up the social ranks. As she attempts to straddle both worlds, she stumbles upon Anita’s story, raising questions about the dynamics of her own relationship, which eerily mirrors that of the forgotten artist. Moving back and forth through time and told from the perspectives of both Anita and Raquel, this is sure a novel (and a conversation) that you don’t want to miss.
About the Author: Xochitl Gonzalez is the New York Times bestselling author of Olga Dies Dreaming. Named Best of 2022 by The New York Times, TIME, Kirkus, Washington Post, and NPR, Olga Dies Dreaming was the winner of the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize in Fiction and the New York City Book Award.
Can't make it to the live show? It will be recorded and archived. Click here to view all previous author talks.
Our Virtual Author Talk series is generously sponsored by the Welles-Turner Memorial Library Second Century Fund.