Virtual Event: Sara Faith Alterman

Harvard Book Store's virtual event series welcomes SARA FAITH ALTERMAN—essayist, memoirist, and producer of the acclaimed stage show and podcast Mortified—for a discussion of her latest memoir, Let's Never Talk About This Again. She will be joined in conversation by MEREDITH GOLDSTEIN, author of the beloved Boston Globe advice column Love Letters.

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About Let's Never Talk About This Again

Twelve-year-old Sara enjoyed an G-rated existence in suburban New England, filled with over-the-top birthday cakes, Revolutionary War reenactments, and nerdy word games invented by her prudish father, Ira. But Sara's world changed for the icky when she discovered that Ira had been shielding her from the truth: that he was a campy sex writer who'd sold millions of books in multiple languages, including the wildly popular Games You Can Play with Your Pussy. Which was, to the naïve Sara's horror, not a book about cats. For decades the books remained an unspoken family secret, until Ira developed early onset Alzheimer's disease . . . and announced he'd be reviving his writing career. With Sara's help.

In this cringeworthy, hilarious, and moving memoir, Sara shares the profound experience of discovering new facets of her father; once as a child, and again as an adult. Let's Never Talk About This Again is a must-read confessional from a woman who spent years trying to find humor in the perverse and optimism in the darkness, and succeeded.

Praise for Let's Never Talk About This Again

"A memoir that includes stories about writing sex books with her once-prudish father might sound hilarious, which it is, but Let's Never Talk About This Again is so much more. It's also a sweet, tender, and heartbreaking sendoff to her dad that's full of so much humor and love it's almost impossible not to smile, then laugh, then eventually cry." —Dan Marshall, author of Home Is Burning and Life Hacks for Dads

"It's a little ironic given the title but Let's Never Talk About This Again tackles difficult topics with warmth, candor, and humor. Sara Faith Alterman explores the biggest topics, literally ranging from love and birth to loss and death with intimacy and charm and the exact right number of references to Dunkin' Donuts. Every chapter gleams with a skill and level of perspective that make me think: 'What a great brain she has! I'm so glad she squeezed this book out of it!'" —Josh Gondelman, Emmy Award–winning writer, comedian, and author of Nice Try: Stories of Best Intentions and Mixed Results

"Page after page of the most hilarious and heartwarming honesty. Sara Faith Alterman turns cringeworthy surprises in family life into sweet comedy gold." —Kevin Allison, creator of the RISK! podcast