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An unusual American woman's life is upended when a delegation of lamas announces that her young son is a reincarnated Buddhist master.Third Place Books welcomes Snow Falling on Cedars author David Guterson to our Lake Forest Park location for a conversation about his new book Evelyn in Transit—a novel bridging Tibet and the American West to explore the human quest for transcendence.
Please note: David will be joining us both on Wednesday, Jan. 21 at our Lake Forest Park location and on Friday, Jan. 23 at our Ravenna location!
This event is free and open to the public. For important updates, RSVP is highly recommended in advance. This event will include a public signing and time for audience Q&A. Sustain our author series by purchasing a copy of the featured book!
About Evelyn in Transit. . .
A crystalline short novel about defying expectations, hitting the road, and seeking the right way to live.
Radically open-minded, formidably strong, and unusually clear-eyed about herself and others, Evelyn Bednarz has always been a misfit. She’s easily bored, unsuited to life at school, asks odd questions about faith and time, and sees through conventions others take for granted. Seeking to be true to herself, she hitchhikes across the American West taking odd jobs.
In distant Tibet, another life unfolds as remote from Evelyn’s as can be: the life of a boy named Tsering, raised as a Buddhist monk in the mountains of Tibet, who eventually becomes a high lama.
And yet, their lives are strangely linked—as Evelyn discovers when a trio of Buddhist lamas show up at her door to announce that her five-year-old son Cliff is the seventh reincarnation of the illustrious Norbu Rinpoche, recently deceased. The lamas’ visit sets off a family crisis and a media firestorm over Cliff’s future.
Written in a spare, precise style of extraordinary beauty, full of surprising humor and luminosity, Evelyn in Transit delivers much-needed insight and compassion about humanity’s strivings for transcendence, and what it might mean to “live the right way.”
Praise for Evelyn in Transit. . .
"I couldn't stop reading Evelyn in Transit and devoured it in huge and greedy gulps. Every character here is unusual, somehow, and striking: David Guterson seems to catch every voice, and every detail, with such effortless command, and appears happy as a lama to leave everything in its enigmatic truth. An unqualified delight."
—Pico Iyer, author of The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise
"What a beautiful, strange, soulful spell David Guterson casts in Evelyn in Transit. . . . The modest, intimate, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deadpan funny, always perfectly observed day-to-day details build up and resolve into an inspired portrait that is both cosmic and sacred."
—Paul Harding, author of This Other Eden
"Guterson delivers a soulful and gentle meditation on the meaning of life and the lengths some of us will go to find purpose. What Evelyn ends up choosing for her young son is practically beside the point. Her charming large heartedness and open mind win the reader over anyway."
—Poornima Apte, Booklist (starred review)
David Guterson is the author of several novels: the national best seller Snow Falling on Cedars; East of the Mountains; Our Lady of the Forest, a New York Times Notable Book and a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year; The Other; and Ed King. He is also the author of two story collections, two books of poetry, a memoir, and the work of nonfiction Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, he lives in Washington state.
Want a signed edition of the featured book, but can't make it to the event? Order through our website or over the phone, and write your request for a signature or personalization in the comments field at checkout. Please call the hosting store if you're placing your order within 24 hours of the event.
For media or accessibility inquiries, please email [email protected] or call our Lake Forest Park store at (206) 366-3311.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
6504 20th Ave NE, Seattle, WA, United States, Washington 98115
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