Morris Collins: Tavern at the End of History

• This event will take place at street level.
• If possible, events are livestreamed. Check out our store YouTube channel for livestream updates.
• ASL interpretation may be provided (based on the availability of interpreters) but must be requested at least 2 weeks in advance of the event.
• Please email us at [email protected] as soon as possible if you require ASL interpretation, guaranteed seating, or other accommodations. Seats are limited.We will do our best to serve your needs!

Over a span of five days in 2017, two strangers find themselves in a sea-rocked sanitarium on the coast of Maine where, as they gather at an auction for a piece of art stolen in the Second World War, they must reckon with the wounds of inheritance: shame, displacement, and the longing of exiles.

Jacob, grandson of a Holocaust survivor, son of refugees, has lived his life overshadowed by the grief of others. His mistakes have cost him his job and his marriage. So when he meets Baer, an impoverished Holocaust survivor looking for help, Jacob sees an opportunity to redeem himself.

But what Baer wants won't be easy. A piece of art given to him as a boy--and that disappeared during the war--has resurfaced and is about to go up for auction in a secluded sanitarium for Holocaust survivors and their families on an island off the coast of Maine. The head of the sanitarium is Alex Baruch, a disgraced writer and Kabbalist whose memoir about surviving the Holocaust has been denounced as fraudulent. Baer asks Jacob to go to the auction with his niece, Rachel, and steal back the piece.

Rachel carries grief of her own. She's mourning her husband, a young Jew trying to separate himself from his ultra-orthodox community, and instead of living the artist's life she dreamed, she's working in a museum basement answering questions on the phone about paintings she can't see. Grieving and guilty, she's eager for an impossible quest.

Together, Rachel and Jacob head to the sanitarium, where they find Baruch and his community of odd and broken souls. But two nights before the auction, in the midst of a storm, a stranger appears--an old man, a ghost or a dybbuk, or just a survivor of the European catastrophe--bearing a secret. As the line between forgery and authenticity blurs, Rachel and Jacob, Baruch and his followers must face the claims the dead make on the living, in a surreal reckoning with the past where no one is who they say they are, but everyone may be telling the truth.

Recalling the warmth and humor of Nicole Krauss and Joshua Cohen, and the wild collage of history and fantasy of Bruno Schulz and Olga Tokarczuk, The Tavern at the End of History is a deeply felt exploration of grief, love, and identity in the long shadow of twentieth-century calamity.

Morris Collins is a Boston native. He is also the author of Horse Latitudes (Dzanc). His work has been awarded an O. Henry Prize and a Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship. He teaches at The College of the Holy Cross.

Brookline Booksmith, thriving in the heart of Coolidge Corner in Brookline, Massachusetts, since 1961, is one of New England’s premier independent bookstores. We offer a vast selection of books, ranging from current bestsellers to the most eclectic titles. We are also known for our beautiful and inspired gifts. Customers buy and sell gently used books in our treasured Used Book Cellar and enjoy our bountiful bargain book selection. We host award-winning events series (including our groundbreaking Transnational Literature Series), offering more than 300 author talks, community conversations, and book clubs annually. Find more at brooklinebooksmith.com!

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard Street, Brookline, United States

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