Reading the World: Jan Kjaerstad & Mark Binelli (4 of 7)

As part of the Reading the World Conversation Series (at the University of Rochester), this event on April 30, 2009, brought together Jan Kjærstad & Mark Binelli.

The "Jonas Wergland Trilogy" propelled author Jan Kjærstad to fame in his native Norway (and throughout Europe). This trilogy—including THE CONQUEROR and THE DISCOVERER, both published by Open Letter—presents three different viewpoints on the rise and fall of a TV producer named Jonas Wergeland (think Ken Burns meets Terry Gross) and three different explanations for his wife's mysterious death. These books are absolute masterpieces of storytelling that—rather than answering "who did it?"—address the more salient question of "how did he become the person who did it?"

Jan Kjærstad is joined on stage by the incredibly talented Mark Binelli, who is the author of SACCO & VANZETTI MUST DIE! (a novel that ingeniously re-imagines two infamous anarchists as slapstick comedians). He is also a contributing editor to ROLLING STONE, writing on topics ranging from the glacial melting on Greenland to "Kid Cannabis" to, most recently, the fall of Detroit.

Sponsored by Open Letter Books the Humanities Project at the University of Rochester.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• open letter
• open letter books
• reading the world
• conversation series
• Jan Kjaerstad
• Jan Kjærstad
• Mark Binelli
• university of rochester
• humanities project
• literature
• translation
• three percent