Tag: political polarization

author leslie gray streeter on ‘louie’

Baltimore-based author Leslie Gray Streeter and I met one another in 2020 just when our memoirs — mine, Uncomfortably Numb, and hers, Black Widow — hit the shelves. Our book promo plans upended by the pandemic, we joined a group of 70+ writers who all had books released at the same time, and we collectively tried to help one another.

A few years later, I met Leslie in person when I invited members of our writers’ group, Lockdown Lit, to a group book event at Tatnuck Bookseller in Westborough, Mass.

When it came time to solicit blurbs for Louie on the Rocks, her name immediately popped into my head because she and I are frequently liking one another’s posts on social media.

I also had the pleasure of reading an advance copy of her forthcoming novel, Family and Other Calamities. I LOVED it and can’t wait for others to have the delightful experience.

Here’s her full blurb:

Louie On The Rocks is a frank and, at times, blisteringly funny testament to the corroding influences of grief, addiction , polarization, regret and emotional abandonment. It’s told with multiple vivid voices giving witness to a tragic chain of events that might be stoppable – but probably aren’t.

— Leslie Gray Streeter

‘louie on the rocks’ book launch, feb. 15 in westborough, mass.

Please join me in celebrating the launch of my latest book, Louie on the Rocks, at Tatnuck Bookseller in Westborough, Mass. on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 4 p.m.

I’m honored that Worcester writer Kevin Koczwara — a former UMass-Amherst journalism student of mine — will be there to lead a writerly conversation with me about the book and its many themes, ranging from how political polarization affects families to how adult children should deal with struggling older parents.

After the conversation, we’ll do a Q&A, I’ll read a bit from the book, and then sign copies.

author erin somers, ‘we all know a louie …’

Thank you Erin Somers — author of the darkly humorous Stay Up with Hugo Best (pick it up, you’ll thank me) — for your gracious words about Louie on the Rocks:

“Louie on the Rocks perfectly captures our divisive era. We all know a Louie–someone who has been changed indelibly by the last several years of politics. O’Brien writes him, and his devastated family, with precision, humor, and grace.”