Taffy Brodesser-Akner at The Brattle Theatre

Harvard Book Store welcomes TAFFY BRODESSER-AKNER—staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, bestselling author of Fleischman Is in Trouble, and executive producer of its Emmy-nominated limited series adaptation—for a discussion of her new novel Long Island Compromise. She will be joined in conversation by TOM PERROTTA—bestselling author of Election and Little Children, both of which were made into Oscar-nominated films, as well as the author of The Leftovers and Mrs. Fletcher, which were adapted into critically acclaimed series for HBO. 

Ticketing

Book Included: Admission for one and one hardcover copy of Long Island Compromise pre-signed by the author.

Admission Only: Admission for one.

About Long Island Compromise

In 1982, a wealthy businessman named Carl Fletcher is kidnapped from his driveway in the nicest part of Long Island, brutalized, and held for ransom. He is returned to his wife and sons a week later, only slightly the worse for wear, and the family begins the hard work of trying to move on with their lives and resume their prized places in the saga of the American dream.

But twenty-five years later, when Carl's mother dies and the family comes home to mourn her, the unprocessed drama that's been bubbling beneath the surface finally comes to the fore for the entire family: Carl, the prickly, still-terrified father, who has been secretly seeking closure to the matter of his kidnapping for years; his wife, Ruth, who has spent her potential protecting her husband's emotional health; and their three grown sons: Nathan, who is trying to stay on the promotion track at his law firm; Beamer, a Hollywood producer, who will consume anything--substance, foodstuff, women--in order to numb his own perpetual terror; and J.J., the cool observer who spends his life so bent on proving that he is not a product of the family's pathology that he comes to define it.

After Carl buries his mother, he allows himself to acknowledge what happened to him all those years ago, and to finally face the question that's been idling in his mind for a quarter of a century: Where did the ransom go?

Long Island Compromise spans the entirety of one family's history, winding through decades and generations all the way through the wild present, and deals with all the mainstays of American Jewish life: tradition, the pursuit of success, the fear of history, old wives' tales, evil eyes, orgies, dybbuks, a Mandy Patinkin obsession, hippies, right-wing capitalists, and the mostly unspoken love and shared experience that unites a family forever.

Praise for Long Island Compromise

“The wizard Weisenheimer behind Fleishman Is in Trouble is back with a big, juicy, wickedly funny social satire. . . . As weird as this may sound—Brodesser-Akner has written probably the funniest book ever about generational family trauma.”—Oprah Daily

“As she did in Fleishman, Brodesser-Akner once again demonstrates a gift for capturing the dark, unforgiving things people do and say to the ones they are supposed to love the most.”—Vulture

“A great American Jewish novel whose brew of hilarity, heartbreak, and smarts recalls the best of Philip Roth. A triumph.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Brodesser-Akner is a steady, imaginative, insightful writer, and there are riotous passages, haunting dybbuks, and unseen twists that make it thoroughly discussable. Readers will get lost and found in its universe of wealth, family, faith, and other fallible securities.”—Booklist (starred review)

“Easily avoids the sophomore slump with another incisive and witty portrait of New York Jewish life. . . . Brodesser-Akner’s latest combines the smarts of Sarah Silverman’s stand-up, the polymath verisimilitude of Tom Wolfe’s novels, and the Jewish soul of Sholem Aleichem’s stories. This is a comedic feast.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Masking Policy

Masks are encouraged but not required for this event.