The Center for Fiction Presents Tom Perrotta on Ghost Town with Teddy Wayne

Join The Center for Fiction for an evening with celebrated author Tom Perrotta (Little Children, The Leftovers, Election) as he discusses his new novel, Ghost Town, a darkly nostalgic and gripping tale of grief, adolescence, and the long shadows of the past.

In Ghost Town, Perrotta brings his signature insight and wit to a story, set in 1970s suburban New Jersey, that explores the complicated terrain of memory, class, and coming of age. The novel follows Jimmy Perrini, who, in the wake of a personal tragedy at the end of eighth grade, drifts into troubling friendships with a local burnout and an eccentric girl whose Ouija board offers an escape from grief. Narrated by a much older Jimmy, the book examines how the past lingers, how childhood ghosts shape adulthood, and how we reckon with the choices and events that define us.

Perrotta will be joined in conversation by award-winning novelist Teddy Wayne (The Winner, The Love Song of Jonny Valentine) for an exploration of memory, writing suburbia, and how fiction highlights the small dramas and profound losses of our lives.