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Book*hug Press and Type Books invite you to the Toronto launch of The Fun Times Brigade by Lindsay Zier-Vogel. Featuring readings, crafts, and musical guests! Books will be available for purchase from Type Books, and, of course, Lindsay will be signing!Sunday, May 4, 2025
1:00 - 2:30 pm ET
The Tranzac, 292 Brunswick Avenue, Toronto, ON
Admission is free. All are welcome to attend.
Synopsis:
From acclaimed author Lindsay Zier-Vogel comes an insightful and heart-rending exploration of motherhood, grief, and the search for identity. Amy is a new mother, navigating the fog of those bewildering early days and struggling with a role she feels ill-prepared for. It’s the first time in a decade that she hasn’t been living the busy life of a successful children’s musician, and her sense of self is unravelling. To make matters worse, her former bandmates have seemingly abandoned her.
In flashbacks, we see Amy’s journey to artistic success—her stumblings as a solo singer-songwriter and her eventual evolution into acclaim as a children’s entertainer. But as the novel progresses—and Amy grapples with a devastating loss—we come to understand how precarious definitions of artistic success can be and how hard it is to truly find our place in the world. The Fun Times Brigade examines the enduring challenges of reconciling being an artist with being a mother, and how we ultimately fail and find the need to forgive those we love. It is also a timely reflection on what it really means to have a good life in a world that demands we have—and be—it all, and asserts that amidst the chaos, we can find our way back to our genuine selves.
Praise for The Fun Times Brigade:
“With pitch-perfect descriptions of the love and panic of new motherhood alongside fresh and authentic stories of music and musicians, Zier-Vogel balances hope and sadness in a truly unique and beautiful story. I could not put this one down.” —Jennifer Whiteford, author of Make Me a Mixtape
“Lindsay Zier-Vogel’s The Fun Times Brigade is a breathtaking and brilliant novel that so accurately captures the indie music scene, new motherhood, and the deeply complicated path of becoming a mother. Zier-Vogel gives words to many thoughts I was never able to express as a new mom, and her story will stay with you for a very long time.” —Dani Kind, actor, Workin’ Moms
“The Fun Times Brigade is a precise evocation of the love, isolation, and identity crisis of early motherhood, beautifully colliding in this novel with ambition, creative drive, and the bumpy road to finding ourselves. Tender, honest, and human in the best ways.” —Heidi Reimer, author of The Mother Act
Bios:
LINDSAY ZIER-VOGEL is a Toronto-based author and the creator of the internationally beloved Love Lettering Project. After studying contemporary dance, Zier-Vogel received her MA in Creative Writing from the University of Toronto. She is the author of the acclaimed novel Letters to Amelia, and her first picture book, Dear Street was a Junior Library Guild pick, a Canadian Children’s Book Centre book of the year, and was nominated for a Forest of Reading Blue Spruce Award in 2024. The Fun Times Brigade is her second novel.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Tranzac Club, 292 Brunswick Ave, Toronto, ON M5S 2M7, Canada,Toronto, Ontario
