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Novelist Susan Minot to Present Reading Wednesday

Novelist Susan Minot to Present Reading Wednesday

February 26, 2002

February 26, 2002, Greencastle, Ind. - Susan Minot, author of the critically acclaimed books Evening and Monkeys, and whose latest work, the novella Rapture was published last month, will be on the DePauw University campus to present a reading Wednesday evening, February 27. The presentation, which begins at 7:30 p.m., will take place in Meharry Hall of historic East College and is presented by the James and Marilou Kelly Writers Series.

In Rapture, two former lovers reunite for an afternoon tryst. According to a synopsis of the book, "Throughout the nearly wordless encounter, the lovers' minds wander through the annals of their sexual pasts and their relationship history, drawing them to such disparate emotional resolutions that it's almost hard to believe that theirs is a shared experience."

Born in Manchester, Massachusetts in 1956, Susan Minot attended Brown University where she studied writing and painting. She received an M.F.A. in writing from Columbia University. Minot first gained wide acclaim for Monkeys, nine stories which together make up a novel about a New England family of seven children. The stories cover twelve years in the life of the children, their mother's "monkeys," during which a tragic accident alters their lives. It was published in a dozen countries and in 1987 won France's Prix Femina Etranger. Her other books include Lust & Other Stories and Folly.

 Susan Minot has also impacted the world of motion pictures. She wrote collaborated with director Bernardo Bertolucci on the screenplay of his 1996 film Stealing Beauty, which featured Jeremy Irons and Liv Tyler in starring roles. Minot is currently working on a screen adaptation of Evening.

Of Rapture, Brad Hooper wrote in Booklist, "In lush language correlative to the situation but in amazingly concise form, Minot explores the significance of sex, the value of longing, and the rewards and drawbacks of belonging." Rosemary Herbert opined in the Boston Herald, "Minot's triumph here is the formation of two characters not only by means of the contrasting content of their thoughts, but via their expression of them." Herbert calls the couple at the heart of the story "self-absorbed and not very likeable," and credits Minot with "endowing the characters with an earnestness and that almost endears them to the reader."

Susan Minot's DePauw appearance is free and open to the public. For more information on Rapture, or to order the book, click here.

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