IMPORTANT: We will be meeting virtually via Zoom @ 11AM EST. Please email info@twentystoriesla.com for the Zoom meeting link!

This month (MAY 2020) we'll be discussing CREATURES by Crissy Van Meter. We'll talk about the novel's structure, our favorite passages, and what the author is trying to accomplish, among other things! Come meet new book friends!

ALL ARE WELCOME TO JOIN THE DISCUSSION. FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

* OUR FICTION BOOKCLUB MEETS THE LAST SUNDAY OF EVERY MONTH *

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ABOUT CREATURES

AT A GLANCE:

“Van Meter’s debut is an unwavering triumph . . . A coming-of-age that’s as human as it is wild.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Some of the most heartbreaking moments in this novel are the most simply told, and there are scenes of beauty and magic and dry humor amid the chaos . . . A quietly captivating debut.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

SYNOPSIS:

On the eve of Evangeline’s wedding, on the shore of Winter Island, a dead whale is trapped in the harbor, the groom may be lost at sea, and Evie’s mostly absent mother has shown up out of the blue. From there, in this mesmerizing, provocative debut, the narrative flows back and forth through time as Evie reckons with her complicated upbringing in this lush, wild land off the coast of Southern California. 

Evie grew up with her well-meaning but negligent father, surviving on the money he made dealing the island’s world-famous strain of weed, Winter Wonderland. Although her father raised her with a deep respect for the elements, the sea, and the creatures living within it, he also left her to parent herself. With wit, love, and bracing flashes of anger, Creatures probes the complexities of love and abandonment, guilt and forgiveness, betrayal and grief—and the ways in which our childhoods can threaten our ability to love if we are not brave enough to conquer the past. 

Lyrical, darkly funny, and ultimately cathartic, Creatures exerts a pull as strong as the tides.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Crissy Van Meter grew up in Southern California. Her writing has appeared in Vice, Bustle, Guernica, and Catapult. She holds an MFA in creative writing from the New School. She lives in Los Angeles.

SEE YOU THERE! Questions? Email: info@twentystoriesla.com