TOUR DATES FOR 'THE VANISHING FAMILY'
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I’m excited to be touring through the fall with my new book, The Vanishing Family — with lots of great conversations lined up with some of the best writers and thinkers out there: Alex Kotlowitz, David Eagleman, Laura Lippman, Jonathan Rosen, Susannah Cahalan, and more. (Information and links are below.)
The Vanishing Family is the emotional true story of an inspirational family that has been given the ability to learn their genetic futures. Who decides to look into the crystal ball, and who doesn’t? How does this change the way they look at life, at their selves, and their loved ones? How does love and hope change when we learn the end of our story?
I’m thrilled the book has already received such great attention as a major September release by the New York Times, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon. Publisher’s Weekly calls it “moving” and “powerful;” Kirkus says it’s “compelling”; and Booklist dubs it “an important, compelling, compassionate, and breathtaking journalistic achievement.” And I’m bowled over by the support and praise the book has from other authors, all of whom I deeply revere.
“A triumph of reporting and an absolutely compelling exploration of neuroscience and genetics. At its heart, though, this is a poignant, heartfelt story about family and how love sustains even in the most difficult circumstances. Like Robert Kolker's other work, it is full of deep humanity. A beautiful book.” —Susan Orlean, New York Times-bestselling author of The Orchid Thief and Joyride
“Robert Kolker has somehow done it again. The Vanishing Family is an extraordinary investigation of the forms of silence and denial that come to structure a family redefined by dementia. It is also a riveting family saga about sisters and brothers trying to understand who they are as they gradually lose their memories and attachments.” —Rachel Aviv, Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times-bestselling author of Strangers to Ourselves
"Kolker writes about brain disorders the way great war correspondents write about battle: through the intimate lives caught in the crossfire. This book is gripping, devastating, illuminating, and impossible to put down." —David Eagleman, neuroscientist at Stanford University and New York Times-bestselling author of Livewired and Incognito
"It is a marvelous paradox that Robert Kolker possesses in abundance exactly the qualities that frontotemporal dementia erases: warmth, engagement, generosity, empathy. Because he cares so deeply about every member of this ill-starred family, we care too. This is a memorably humane book whose power grows as, page by page, we cheer for each winner of the genetic coin toss and grieve for each loser." —Anne Fadiman, author of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down and Frog
“A deeply intimate portrait of a family confronting a shared genetic fate, and the love, courage, and choices that follow. Robert Kolker brings clarity and compassion to frontotemporal dementia, offering both insight and urgency through his storytelling.” —Emma Heming Willis, New York Times-bestselling author of The Unexpected Journey and advocate for FTD and caregivers
“What gives The Vanishing Family its haunting power is the deep humanity the author brings to a story that, like the specter of dementia itself, has urgent implications for us all.” —Jonathan Rosen, author of The Best Minds, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
“Deeply empathetic, this book reads like a thriller, but Kolker doesn’t pretend there are any real answers for families affected by this particular form of dementia. Moving, haunting, and profound.” —Laura Lippman, New York Times-bestselling author of Lady in the Lake and What the Dead Know
Please join me and my conversation partners (the word “interlocutor” has never done it for me) as we talk not just about the quest to cure dementia, but the questions dementia raises: How much of our personality is ephemeral, and what, if anything, about us is immutable; the mystery of where the physical brain ends and the intangible mind begins; and our longing to explain how we become what we become, and why we change, and who we really are.
Hope to see you on tour!
TOUR DATES FOR THE VANISHING FAMILY
Aspen, CO
Friday, 9/25
Aspen Literary Festival
In conversation with Nelson Dellis and Miwa Messer
Info
OFFICIAL LAUNCH in New York, NY
Monday, 9/28
92nd Street Y
In conversation with Susannah Cahalan
Info
Brookline, MA
Tuesday, 9/29
Brookline Booksmith
In conversation with Sasha Sagan and Joanna Rakoff
Info
Baltimore, MD
Wednesday, 9/30
Enoch Pratt Free Library
In conversation with Laura Lippman
Info
Miami, FL
Thursday, 10/1
Books and Books
In conversation with Dr. Marc Argonin
Washington, DC
Sunday, 10/4
Politics & Prose (Connecticut Ave location)
Info
St. Louis, MO
Monday, 10/5
Saint Louis County Library (Clark Family Branch)
In conversation with Sarah Lovegreen
Info
Winnetka, IL
Tuesday, 10/6
The Bookstall
In conversation with Alex Kotlowitz
Info
Corte Madera, CA
Wednesday, 10/7
Book Passage
Info
Menlo Park, CA
Thursday, 10/8
Kepler’s
In conversation with David Eagleman
Info
Santa Rosa, CA
Friday, 10/9
Copperfield’s
Info
Morristown, NJ
Saturday, 10/10
Morristown Festival of Books
In conversation with Carol Fitzgerald
Info
Philadelphia, PA
Sunday 10/11
Penn Live Arts
In conjunction with a performance of “UnRavelled”
Info
New York, NY
Monday, 10/12
Barnes & Noble Upper West Side (Broadway and 82nd St)
In conversation with Jonathan Rosen
Info
Toronto, CA
Wednesday, 10/14
Hot Docs
Madison, WI
Saturday, 10/17
Wisconsin Book Festival
Info
Austin, TX
Sat-Sun Nov 14-15
Texas Book Festival
Info
Denver, CO
Tuesday, 11/17
Denver Book Society
Info
