Fiction Writers Victoria Redel and Tom Perrotta to Read From Their Work

ALBANY, NY (11/07/2007)(readMedia)-- Victoria Redel, author of the Novel “Loverboy,” to discuss New Novel of the Holocaust, November 27, 2007

Victoria Redel, author of “Loverboy” (2001), a novel of motherly love gone bad that was adapted as a 2005 film directed by Kevin Bacon, starring Kyra Sedgwick and Matt Dillon, will discuss “The Border of Truth” (2007), about the daughter of a Holocaust refugee who discovers the buried secrets of her father’s past, on Tuesday, November 27, 2007 at 8:00 p.m. in Assembly Hall, Campus Center, on the University at Albany’s uptown campus. Earlier that same day at 4:15 p.m. the author will present an informal seminar in Science Library 340 on the uptown campus. The events are sponsored by the New York State Writers Institute and UAlbany’s Judaic Studies Department, and are free and open to the public.

Victoria Redel is an acclaimed poet, short story writer, and novelist. Her first novel “Loverboy” (2001), about a mother’s obsessive—and, ultimately, twisted and dangerous—love for her child, became a 2005 movie directed by Kevin Bacon and starring Kyra Sedgwick, and Matt Dillon. In reviewing the book “Library Journal” said, “Redel... writes like an angel about the darkest edge of obsession. This debut is simply excellent.” The “Los Angeles Times Book Review” said, “Redel is one of the most talented scary writers to come out of musty old Manhattan in the last few decades. She’s a writer with her fists clenched so tightly that her palms must bleed, and when she opens her fist, suddenly, in front of the reader, powerful, hurtful truths come flying out.”

Redel’s most recent book is “The Border of Truth” (2007), which follows the daughter of a Holocaust refugee as she uncovers the strange and unexpected secrets of her father’s history. The narrative alternates between the perspectives of Itzak Lejdel and his daughter Sarah Leader.

After Itzak’s visa is rejected by American authorities, he sits trapped on a ship in a Virginia port in the 1940s, waiting to be sent back to Nazi-occupied Europe. Fifty years later, Sarah, a single, childless professor with a weakness for married lovers, is compelled by an adoption agency to supply a family history, and becomes determined to discover the story of her father’s past, about which she knows little. The “Publishers Weekly” reviewer said, “Redel offers a welcome and fresh perspective on the well-trod subject of the Holocaust.” The “Los Angeles Times” said, “‘The Border of Truth’ is such a good novel that it could also be any American’s story.”

In writing the book, Redel took inspiration from the story of her own father, Irving Redel, who fled Nazi-occupied Europe aboard a Portuguese cargo ship, the Quanza, whose passengers—most of them Jews seeking political asylum— were denied entry first in Mexico, then in Virginia. At last, Eleanor Roosevelt personally intervened, and the U.S. State Department granted them visas.

Redel’s collections of poetry, “Swoon” (2004) and “Already the World” (1995) were noted by critics for their ferocity, carnality and passion. The “New York Times” said of “Swoon,” “While some books can be read in a single sitting, this isn’t one of them. Redel’s characters don’t walk the line between appetite and everything else so much as they dash back and forth across it, warming the pages so that readers who take up ‘Swoon’ are likely to drop it from time to time and blow on their fingers as though they’ve grabbed a hot skillet.”

Redel’s appearance is cosponsored by the UAlbany Judaic Studies Department.

For additional information, contact the Writers Institute at 518-442-5620 or online at http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst.

Tom Perrotta, Bestselling Satirist and Oscar-Nominated Screenwriter, to Read From his New Novel and Present Film Commentary, November 29 & 30, 2007

Tom Perrotta, author of the masterpieces of satirical fiction, “Election” (1998) and “Little Children” (2004), both of which were adapted as major motion pictures, will read from his hilarious new novel about sex education in the public schools on Thursday, November 29, 2007 at 8:00 p.m. in Campus Center 375 on the University at Albany’s uptown campus. Earlier that same day at 4:15 p.m. the author will present an informal seminar in the same location. The events are sponsored by the New York State Writers Institute and the Greater Capital Region Teacher Center, and are free and open to the public.

In addition to his presentations on Thursday, November 29, Tom Perrotta will offer commentary and answer questions immediately following a film screening of “Little Children,” based on his novel and for which he co-wrote the screenplay, on Friday, November 30, at 7:00 p.m. [note early start time] in Page Hall on the UAlbany downtown campus. Perrotta will also hold an informal seminar on screenwriting at 4:15 p.m. on Friday in Science Library 340 on the uptown campus.

Tom Perrotta, “one of America’s best-kept literary secrets” (“Newsweek”), writes biting satires about suburban life and adolescent experience. His newest novel, “The Abstinence Teacher” (2007), which debuted at #14 on the “New York Times” Bestseller List, is a foray into the world of sex education and the American culture wars. Ruth Ramsey is a sex education instructor in the middle school of an affluent American community. Her unguarded answer to a question about oral sex causes a scandal at the school, arouses the ire of the Christian Right, and eventually leads to her being saddled with a new “abstinence-only” curriculum. Meanwhile, hard-line evangelical Tom Mason, the middle school soccer coach who enjoys leading his team in prayer, is running into problems of his own, including a growing attraction to Ruth, his arch-enemy.

“Kirkus Reviews” called the book, “Ruefully humorous and tenderly understanding of human folly; the most mature, accomplished work yet from this deservedly bestselling author.” The novel has already been optioned for a film to be directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, the team behind the indie hit “Little Miss Sunshine” (2006).

Perrotta’s novel “Little Children” (2004), a “New York Times” and NPR “Best Book of 2004,” follows the course of an adulterous affair between a stay-at-home mom and a stay-at-home-dad who meet on the playground of a prosperous American suburb. Writing in the “New York Times Book Review,” Will Blythe said, “What a wicked joy it is to welcome ‘Little Children,’ Tom Perrotta’s extraordinary novel...a sterling comic contribution... at once suspenseful, ruefully funny and ultimately generous...What is Tom Perrotta but an American Chekov whose characters even at their most ridiculous seem blessed and ennobled by a luminous human aura?”

Perrotta shared an Oscar nomination with director Todd Field for their 2006 screen adaptation of “Little Children.” The film version starred Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson. Writing in the “Guardian” (UK), Philip French called it, “a sharply observed and brilliantly acted study of American suburban life.”

Perrotta’s previous novels include “Joe College” (2000), “Election” (1998), and “The Wishbones” (1997). Perrotta is also the author of a story collection, “Bad Haircut: Stories of the Seventies” (1994).

The tale of a bitterly fought election for High School Class President, “Election” (1998) became a hit 1999 movie starring Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick, and earned both Perrotta and co-screenwriter Jim Taylor an Oscar nomination for “Best Screenplay.” “Publishers Weekly” called the book, “A convincing portrait of a time of life, illuminating all the profound cruelty and tenderness of adolescence.”

For additional information, contact the Writers Institute at 518-442-5620 or online at http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst.

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Posted Wednesday November 07, 2007 at 01:44 pm by New York State Writers Institute