The acclaimed author Alexander Maksik discusses his new novel Shelter in Place (Europa Editions, 2016), its setting of the Pacific Northwest, themes of love and mental illness, and more, with Joseph Planta.

Shelter in Place by Alexander Maksik (Europa Editions, 2016). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Shelter in Place

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, at TheCommentary.ca.

Alexander Maksik joins me again. The acclaimed writer has a new book out, Shelter in Place, and it is getting good notices, all lauding the author’s deft writing, and his remarkable portrayal of various themes, which we’ll touch upon in the course of our conversation now. The book begins in the early 1990s Pacific Northwest, where Joe March, a 21 year old working class kid from Seattle sees his life implode from within and without. He is battling symptoms of mental illness, namely bipolar disorder, and his mother kills a man and is imprisoned. I’ll get Mr. Maksik to tell us about the characters in the book, Tess Wolff, the woman Joe falls in love with, and these timely themes of finding a place in the world, love, devotion, mental illness, and modern life. Alexander Maksik is the author of You Deserve Nothing, and A Marker to Measure Drift, which he was on this program with in 2013. That book was a New York Times Notable Book, and a finalist for the William Saroyan International Prize, and Le Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger. The website for more is at www.alexandermaksik.com. This book is published by Europa Editions. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, in New York City today, Alexander Maksik; Mr. Maksik, good morning.

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