Susan Coll — Real Life and Other Fictions - with Gwydion Suilebhan

Watch author Susan Coll's book talk and reading at Politics and Prose.

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In her 50s, Cassie has already weathered more than most. She was orphaned at the age of two and has never fully understood why her DC-based parents were on a bridge in West Virginia that just so happened to collapse as they drove across it. Her search for answers prompted a failed career in journalism, and now she's an aspiring novelist teaching at a local community college waiting for her literary dreams to finally come true. She stood by her once-doting husband when his meteorology career took a nosedive, and now she has learned that the man who became an internet meme has been cheating on her.

She's had enough. She scoops up a teething puppy and embarks on a road trip that's heavy on impulse and light on planning. She's not sure where she's going, but she knows she might as well start at the beginning. What really happened to her parents all those years ago?

In this comically surreal, warmhearted journey, she encounters people she never knew existed--chief among them, an enigmatic cryptozoologist, who helps her in the quest to discover her past. And along the way, she looks for answers regarding curious sightings of a creature known as the Mothman in the months before her parents died. As the line between real life and fiction blurs, Cassie finds herself grappling with the nature of stories, myths, and who gets to write the endings.

Real Life & Other Fictions is Susan Coll’s seventh novel. Her previous books include Bookish People, The Stager—a New York Times and Chicago Tribune Editor’s Choice---and Acceptance, which was made into a television movie starring Joan Cusack. Her work has appeared in publications including the New York Times Book Review, the Washington Post, Washingtonian Magazine, Moment Magazine, NPR.org, and Atlantic.com. She is currently the president of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation and the events advisor at Politics and Prose Bookstore, where she has worked for seven years. Newsday has called Coll the “Queen of Literary Comedy.”

Coll is in conversation with Gwydion Suilebhan, a cultural critic, journalist, and playwright. A lifelong arts advocate, he serves as both the Executive Director of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation and the Project Director of the New Play Exchange for the National New Play Network. With co-author Steven Gimbel, Suilebhan writes about comedy, politics, and philosophy for Salon, Moment, and USA Today, among other publications. Together, they are working on a social history of Jewish American comedy. As a playwright, Suilebhan’s writing has been noted for its “dexterous theatricality and unexpected pleasure” (Washington Post). His work has been commissioned, developed, and produced by Centerstage, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Gulfshore Playhouse, Workshop Theater, Forum Theatre, Theater J, and Theater Alliance, among others. His plays include The Butcher, Reals, Abstract Nude, Let X, and the Helen Hayes Award-nominated Transmission, among others. Suilebhan is also the author of Anthem, a short film directed by Hal Hartley.

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Founded by Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade in 1984, Politics and Prose Bookstore is Washington, D.C.'s premier independent bookstore and cultural hub, a gathering place for people interested in reading and discussing books. Politics and Prose offers superior service, unusual book choices, and a haven for book lovers in the store and online.