Chloe Benjamin

presents

The Immortalists:
A Novel

in conversation with CALLIE CROSSLEY

This event includes a book signing

Date

Jan
23
Tuesday
January 23, 2018
7:00 PM ET

Location

Harvard Book Store
1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138

Tickets

This event is free; no tickets are required.

Harvard Book Store welcomes award-winning author CHLOE BENJAMIN for a discussion of her latest novel, The Immortalists. She will be joined in conversation by award-winning broadcast journalist CALLIE CROSSLEY.

About The Immortalists

If you knew the date of your death, how would you live your life?

It's 1969 in New York City's Lower East Side, and word has spread of the arrival of a mystical woman, a traveling psychic who claims to be able to tell anyone the day they will die. The Gold children—four adolescents on the cusp of self-awareness—sneak out to hear their fortunes.

Their prophecies inform their next five decades. Golden-boy Simon escapes to the West Coast, searching for love in '80s San Francisco; dreamy Klara becomes a Las Vegas magician, obsessed with blurring reality and fantasy; eldest son Daniel seeks security as an army doctor post-9/11, hoping to control fate; and bookish Varya throws herself into longevity research, where she tests the boundary between science and immortality.

A sweeping novel of remarkable ambition and depth, The Immortalists probes the line between destiny and choice, reality and illusion, this world and the next. It is a deeply moving testament to the power of story, the nature of belief, and the unrelenting pull of familial bonds.

Praise

“Chloe Benjamin’s The Immortalists is the very best kind of literary thriller, its suspense deriving from characters we care about deeply and surprises that feel embedded in our shared humanity. As profound a meditation on destiny as readers are likely to encounter.” —Richard Russo

“For someone who loves stories about brothers and sisters, as I do, The Immortalists is about as good as it gets.  A memorable and heartfelt look at what might happen to a family who knows too much. It's amazing how good this book is.‎” —Karen Joy Fowler

“A beautiful, compassionate, and even joyful novel. Chloe Benjamin has written an inspiring book that makes you think hard about what you want to do with the time you’re given. This is not really a book about dying—it's a book about how to live.” —Nathan Hill, author of The Nix

“A literary tour de force. . . Benjamin subtly but trenchantly examines issues of mortality and immortality, destiny and self-determination, magic and science, the past and the future, and the trials and joys of our fleeting but precious existences. A beautifully written page-turner, unpredictable and unforgettable, The Immortalists is ultimately a thoughtful and tender look at how we live our lives in our fraught and perilous times.” —Judith Claire Mitchell, author of A Reunion of Ghosts

Callie Crossley
Callie Crossley

Callie Crossley

Callie Crossley hosts the radio show and podcast Under the Radar with Callie Crossley and shares radio essays each Monday on GBH’s Morning Edition. She also hosts Basic Black, which focuses on current events impacting communities of color and appears weekly on Boston Public Radio. Ms. Crossley has won numerous TV, radio, film and journalism awards, including the prestigious Gold Baton DuPont Columbia award, a national Edward R. Murrow Award, a national Emmy Award and an Academy Award nomination for her producer work on the documentary series Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years. She was recently named one of four 2022 recipients of the Governor’s Award in the Humanities.

Chloe Benjamin
Chloe Benjamin

Chloe Benjamin

Chloe Benjamin is the author of the novel The Anatomy of Dreams, which received the Edna Ferber Fiction Book Award and was longlisted for the 2014 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. A San Francisco native, Benjamin is a graduate of Vassar College and of the University of Wisconsin, where she received her MFA in fiction. She lives with her husband in Madison, Wisconsin.

Harvard Book Store
1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138

Walking from the Harvard Square T station: 2 minutes

As you exit the station, reverse your direction and walk east along Mass. Ave. in front of the Cambridge Savings Bank. Cross Dunster St. and proceed along Mass. Ave for three more blocks. You will pass Au Bon Pain, JP Licks, and TD Bank. Harvard Book Store is located at the corner of Mass. Ave. and Plympton St.

Unable to attend a Harvard Book Store author event? You can still pre-order a signed book by one of our visiting authors.

While we can't guarantee fulfillment of a signed book pre-order, our authors are almost always able to sign extra books to fulfill such orders.

Ordering a signed book on harvard.com:

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FAQ:

Can I request a personalized inscription?
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Event Series: This Month's Selection for our Signed First Edition Club

Signed First Edition ClubHarvard Book Store's Signed First Edition Club is a unique way for readers to connect with and create a wealth of great books. Each month, Harvard Book Store offers members a signed first edition of a newly published book, selected for both its literary merit and potential collectibility. Learn more and sign up at harvard.com/signedfirst.

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