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Get ready for one of the Festival’s shiniest events!  Gayle Forman (If I Stay) will share the stage at War Memorial Auditorium with Curtis Sittenfeld (Eligible) on Saturday, October 15th from 3:30-4:30 pm.  Mary Laura Philpott of Parnassus and Penguin fame moderates the conversation (Penguins with People Problems).  

Forman doesn’t shy away from the gritty details of motherhood in her first novel for adults, Leave Me.  Maribeth, the protagonist, works full time then comes home to 4-year-old twins.  Her husband isn’t much help, and Maribeth is so exhausted she doesn’t even recognize the signs of her own heart attack.  What she does in the aftermath makes her either a monster – or an exhausted mother.  Kirkus Review says that Leave Me “nails the frustrations of working motherhood…,” calling it “an appealing fairy tale for the exhausted and underappreciated.”  Exhausted and underappreciated – what mother has ever felt that?  🙂 

Here are Forman’s entirely charming answers to the Author Questionnaire:  

What was your favorite book as a child?

Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell and Lillian Hoban.  Makes me hungry just to think about it.  Original foodie writing.

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From Jennifer: I absolutely loved that book!!  And the other Frances books!!

Did you ever read books you weren’t supposed to?

ALL THE TIME.  When I was 14, Jackie Collins was my jam.  Also peeked at my parents’ Joy Of Sex.  The boots!

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What is one of the most unusual things you’ve ever done?

Travel around the world for a year.

Any game you especially love?

Apples to Apples, kid version.  The family plays together in bed on weekends.  Usually, no one cries.

What household chore do you enjoy?

Ironing.  There’s such a satisfying before/ after.  And it smells nice.  (p.s. I iron infrequently.)

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Curtis Sittenfeld

Curtis Sittenfeld

Gayle Forman

Gayle Forman

 

 

 

 

 

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Photo:  Copyright: <a href=’https://www.123rf.com/profile_saicle’>saicle / 123RF Stock Photo</a>

 

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