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LAUNCH for Susan Steinberg w/Ryan Van Meter / Machine
August 22, 2019 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm PDT
The Bindery is thrilled to host the launch for Susan Steinberg‘s first novel, Machine. She’ll be joined in conversation by Ryan Van Meter. Please join us!
Susan Steinberg’s first novel, Machine, is a dazzling and innovative leap forward for a writer whose most recent book,Spectacle, gained her a rapturous following. Machinerevolves around a group of teenagers—both locals and wealthy out-of-towners—during a single summer at the shore. Steinberg captures the pressures and demands of this world in a voice that effortlessly slides from collective to singular, as one girl recounts a night on which another girl drowned. Hoping to assuage her guilt and evade a similar fate, she pieces together the details of this tragedy, as well as the breakdown of her own family, and learns that no one, not even she, is blameless.
A daring stylist, Steinberg contrasts semicolon-studded sentences with short lines that race down the page. This restless approach gains focus and power through a sharply drawn narrative that ferociously interrogates gender, class, privilege, and the disintegration of identity in the shadow of trauma. Machine is the kind of novel—relentless and bold—that only Susan Steinberg could have written.
Susan Steinberg is the author of Spectacle, Hydroplane, and The End of Free Love. She is the recipient of a United States Artists Fellowship, a National Magazine Award, and a Pushcart Prize. She teaches at the University of San Francisco. Author photo by Noah Doely.
Ryan Van Meter is the author of If You Knew Then What I Know Now, as well as other essays published in magazines and selected for anthologies including The Best American Essays. He is an associate professor of creative writing at the University of San Francisco. Author photo by Bennett Honson.
Please note: this event will be held at The Bindery, 1727 Haight.
This is an all ages event with mature themes. The bar opens at 7pm; event starts at 7:30pm.
As with all of our events, seating may be limited; you can guarantee a seat by pre-purchasing the book below — when checking out, just be sure to include a note that you’d like to attend the event. If you cannot attend the event but would like to request a signed copy of any of Susan’s other books, order here; to request signed copies of Ryan’s book, order here and do the same.