Station Eleven is Emily St. John Mandel's acclaimed novel about life after a viral flu pandemic wipes out 99% of the world's population. The title is Mayor Marilyn Strickland’s selection for Tacoma Reads 2016, the city's community wide reading program, now in its 14th year.
Station Eleven is the winner of the 2015 Arthur C. Clarke Award, a finalist for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Mandel's book was a New York Times bestseller and an American Library Association Notable Book. It was named Best Book of the Year by Entertainment Weekly and BookPage; and chosen as one of the 10 Best Books of the Year by The Washington Post, TIME Magazine, TimeOut New York, and other publications.
Copies of Station Eleven are currently available at all Tacoma library locations and local bookstores.
"There are no are no zombies, no aliens from outer space, and no crashing comets common in apocalyptic novels," explained theMayor Strickland, in announcing the selection. "It is a very different choice for the program but one I believe will be embraced by our communiy of readers and lead to some fascinating discussions."
Highlighting the month-long series of community events in March is a free booktalk and signing by the author at 7 PM, Thursday evening, March 24 at Tacoma's downtown Urban Grace Church. Doors will open at 6 PM and seating is available on a first come basis. Other events include community conversations about the influence of Star Trek on our life, how to best prepare for an epidemic, opportunities to play the Pandemic board game, community concerts, a film series featuring post-apocalyptic films, and much more.
"Moving backwards and forwards in time, from the glittering years just before the collapse to the strange and altered world that exists twenty years after, Station Eleven charts the unexpected twists of fate that connect six people: famous actor Arthur Leander; Jeevan — warned about the flu just in time; Arthur's first wife Miranda; Arthur's oldest friend Clark; Kirsten, a young actress with the Travelling Symphony; and the mysterious and self-proclaimed 'prophet'. Thrilling, unique and deeply moving, this is a beautiful novel that asks questions about art and fame and about the relationships that sustain us through anything — even the end of the world." - Station Eleven as described by the publisher.
Emily St. John Mandel is the author of four novels. A previous novel, The Singer's Gun, was the 2014 winner of the Prix Mystere de la Critique in France. Her short fiction and essays have been anthologized in numerous collections, including Best American Mystery Stories 2013. She is a staff writer for The Millions, an online magazine offering coverage on books, arts, and culture since 2003.
