Booksmith and Berkeley Arts & Letters are thrilled to present an evening with MacArthur “genius” and Booker Prize winner George Saunders to celebrate the publication of his new story collection, Liberation Day. He will be joined in conversation by the New York Times bestselling, James Beard Award-winning author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking, Samin Nosrat. Please join us for what promises to be an inspired conversation!

PLEASE NOTE: This event is SOLD OUT. We may have additional tickets available at the door, and if so those will be released at 7:15pm on a first-come, first-served basis, with walk-ups having no guarantee of admission. If you would like a signed copy of Liberation Day you can make that request by ordering here – please note this is while supplies last. Write [email protected] with any questions.

Please note:

• This is a ticketed, in-person event. Each ticket includes a copy of Liberation Day.
• Advance sales end at 5pm PT on Tuesday, 11/1. We are unlikely to have tickets available at the door.
• This is an offsite event, to be held at First Presbyterian Church, 2407 Dana St. in Berkeley, CA.
• Safety: ID and proof of full vaccination, including booster, will be required at the door. Masks will be required throughout the duration of the event and capacity will be limited to allow indoor distancing. 
• Because we’re limiting capacity, we can't guarantee we'll have space for walk-ins. The best way to ensure you’ll get a seat is to order a ticket now.
• We are happy to offer *signed copies* of Liberation Day (while supplies last): order a ticket if you'd like to pick up a signed copy at the event, or order here if you just want a signed copy and no admission.
• If we feel it is not safe to gather, as the event gets closer, we will pivot to a virtual event and your registration will remain valid.
• Questions? Write [email protected].

About the book

The “best short story writer in English” (Time) is back with a masterful collection that explores ideas of power, ethics, and justice, and cuts to the very heart of what it means to live in community with our fellow humans. With his trademark prose--wickedly funny, unsentimental, and perfectly tuned--Saunders continues to challenge and surprise: here is a collection of prismatic, deeply resonant stories that encompass joy and despair, oppression and revolution, bizarre fantasy and brutal reality.

“Love Letter” is a tender missive from grandfather to grandson, in the midst of a dystopian political situation in the not-too-distant future, that reminds us of our obligations to our ideals, ourselves, and each other. “Ghoul” is set in a Hell-themed section of an underground amusement park in Colorado, and follows the exploits of a lonely, morally complex character named Brian, who comes to question everything he takes for granted about his “reality.” In “Mother’s Day,” two women who loved the same man come to an existential reckoning in the middle of a hailstorm. And in “Elliott Spencer,” our eighty-nine-year-old protagonist finds himself brainwashed--his memory “scraped”--a victim of a scheme in which poor, vulnerable people are reprogrammed and deployed as political protesters.

Together, these nine subversive, profound, and essential stories coalesce into a case for viewing the world with the same generosity and clear-eyed attention as Saunders does, even in the most absurd of circumstances.

About the authors

George Saunders is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of eleven books, including A Swim in a Pond in the Rain; Lincoln in the Bardo, which won the Booker Prize; Congratulations, by the Way; Tenth of December, a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the inaugural Folio Award; The Braindead Megaphone; and the critically acclaimed collections CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, Pastoralia, and In Persuasion Nation. He teaches in the creative writing program at Syracuse University. Author photo by Zach Krahmer.

Samin Nosrat is a cook, teacher, and author of the James Beard Award-winning #1 New York Times Bestseller Salt Fat Acid Heat. She is a former Eat columnist at The New York Times Magazine and the host and an executive producer of the Netflix original documentary series based on her book. Author photo by Smeeta Mahanti.

Please note:

• This is a ticketed, in-person event. Each ticket includes a copy of Liberation Day.
• This is an offsite event, to be held at First Presbyterian Church, 2407 Dana St. in Berkeley, CA.
• Safety: ID and proof of full vaccination, including booster, will be required at the door. Masks will be required throughout the duration of the event and capacity will be limited to allow indoor distancing. 
• Because we’re limiting capacity, we can't guarantee we'll have space for walk-ins. The best way to ensure you’ll get a seat is to order a ticket now.
• We are happy to offer *signed copies* of Liberation Day (while supplies last): order a ticket if you'd like to pick up a signed copy at the event, or order here if you just want a signed copy and no admission.
• If we feel it is not safe to gather, as the event gets closer, we will pivot to a virtual event and your registration will remain valid.
• Questions? Write [email protected].