Literature

The Dream Life of Astronauts by Patrick Ryan

Tuesday, February 7
8:00 PM

Patrick Ryan excels in every genre in which he writes—short stories, essays, novels, both for adults and young adults. In his newest book of fiction, The Dream Life of Astronauts (Dial Press), Ryan embraces a hybrid form for which he has become well known—short stories that link so seamlessly as to function as a novel. Here, amid the highly localized but infinitely complex universe of Cape Canaveral, Ryan writes about the people who work for and are affected by the NASA space program in its waning days. His characterizations are as precise and nuanced as the shuttles and rockets that were once produced and launched from the site. In Michiko Kakutani’s New York Times review, she writes that “the rhythms and rituals of these people’s daily lives are sharply etched here.” Novelist Ann Patchett commented that the stories in this collection “moved me beyond words.” Ryan is the newly named editor-in-chief of One Story, the novel publication in which a single short story is published, bound, and sent monthly to subscribers. He will be interviewed by David Masello, a distinguished essayist, poet, playwright, and writer about art and culture for leading publications. Ryan and Masello met more than a decade ago when they were both included in an anthology of essays by men writing about their fathers.


An RSVP is not required for this event.