THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT.
Bittersweet, hilarious, wholly original, whip-smart, wacky and eccentric, darkly comic, achingly funny, and deeply touching are some of the many superlatives used to describe the fiction of Maria Semple. She is our poet laureate of discomfort, a writer whose genius springs from the bad choices and outrageous circumstances that motivate her characters. A hysterical dramedy about a family in crisis after the disappearance of its brilliant, misanthropic matriarch, Semple’s breakout novel Where’d You Go, Bernadette spent a year on the New York Times bestseller list, and will soon be a major motion picture by director Richard Linklater, starring Cate Blanchett, Kristen Wiig, and Judy Greer.
At this event, Semple will discuss the fiction to film process, shedding light on the upcoming film adaptation of Where’d You Go, Bernadette, as well as on her own television writing career. She has written for Ellen, 90210, Mad About You, Arrested Development, and other shows. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker and The Los Angeles Times.
"The characters in Where'd You Go, Bernadette may be in real emotional pain, but Semple has the wit and perspective and imagination to make their story hilarious. I tore through this book with heedless pleasure.”
—Jonathan Franzen