Date: February 26th 2010

Join us next Friday, March 5th, to celebrate the release of Jillian Weise's THE COLONY, a lovely debut novel in which Weise explores the moral dimensions of both medical research and human emotions.

Book Launch: Friday March 5th at 7 pm
A Public Space
323 Dean Street
Brooklyn, NY
t. 718.858.8067


Jillian will also be reading from THE COLONY at KGB BAR on Sunday, March 7th at 7pm.
85 East 4th St
New York, NY 10003
212-505-3360
kgbbar.com


Check out "Going Cyborg," Jillian's recent essay about getting fitted for a prosthetic leg, in the NYTimes Magazine: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/magazine/10lives-t.html

THE COLONY, by turns wickedly funny, cranky, vulnerable, and downright beautiful, is the story of Anne Hatley, an English teacher from the South, who takes a break from work and a tedious relationship and accepts an invitation to the nation’s largest research colony, where scientists (including DNA pioneer James Watson) want to study a rare gene she possesses, which affects her bone growth (she has one real leg and a prosthesis). Anne thinks she’s okay as is, but she has to fend off pressure from her peers and doctors when it turns out they want to pioneer an experimental procedure to make her the first patient to generate a new leg. Weise’s story is (in the words of novelist Chris Bachelder) “part Wellsian dystopia, part medical mystery, part Hawthornian allegory, and part reality show”—but most of all it’s a searing indictment of the way our culture treats (and has historically treated) those who don’t fit its preconceptions of health, beauty, and vitality. This is a novel
that mines some of the most polarizing issues of our time—among them, medical ethics, body image, and genetic engineering.


"As a fictional whole made up of varied textual elements, The Colony succeeds on an ideological level by keeping readers engaged while the author develops her argument. In the best narrative tradition, Weise entertains and involves us right up until her devastating final point is driven home."
—Karen Laws, The Rumpus


Hope to see you there.

Soft Skull Press


--
To unsubscribe from: Soft Skull Shortwave, just follow this link:

http://www.softskull.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/u/Soft_Skull_Shortwave/

Click the link, or copy and paste the address into your browser.

Mailing List Powered by Dada Mail
http://www.softskull.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/what_is_dada_mail/