Sat 3/29 @ 7pm
Great books, music and art have a transcendental ability to change something inside the reader/listener/viewer. Most of us can think of at least one book that changed some fundamental aspect of our personality or belief structure. You start the book as one person, but you’re a different person after you’ve finished it. This transformative quality is why books continue to thrive – even as technology and media continue to advance to new, increasingly exciting heights.
Great books also have the ability to capture our imaginations. The best authors can create scenes inside our minds that rival cinema’s greatest directors and special effects. This is true of Elizabeth Earley’s debut novel A Map of Everything.
Through a tragic event, Earley chronicles a family’s transformative search for healing. Through one family’s experience, Earley creates a story with which we can all identify on some level. Her brilliant use of narrative places you inside the narrator’s own consciousness. From the first chapter, A Map of Everything pulls you into the events through detailed description and intimate, uncompromising perspective.
“In combination with the novel, Jaded Ibis Productions produced a compilation of original music and spoken word performances written in response to or inspired by the book,” explains author Elizabeth Earley. “The compilation is a stunning assortment of incomprehensible talent. It will be available at over 750 digital music distribution sites, worldwide. For the book tour, I will be attending seven book release party events in six different cities. At each event, in addition to the traditional reading from the novel, two or more of these talented artists will perform their work live. In Cleveland on March 29 at Loganberry books, Diana Chittester and William Evans will be joining me to perform live.”
“A Map of Everything holds true to its namesake as Earley is able to simultaneously weave a concrete and intriguing narrative while maintaining an honest, brutally honest at times, emotional investment in this rich and absolutely earned story without compromise or disenchantment,” says Columbus writer/poet William Evans.
“A Map of Everything is giving artists of all backgrounds the ability to take a personal experience of another and create a story all of their own,” adds musician Diana Chittester.
Earley’s debut novel isn’t just a nice read. A Map of Everything feels more like a companion. No matter what you’re going through or dealing with, this book is sure to make you feel like Earley is (or at least once was) inside your head, reading your thoughts. By the end, you may have changed as much as the story’s family.
As the title alludes, we’re all interconnected. Through one family’s experiences, Earley explores universal concepts of loss, the uncertainty of the future in the present moment and the transcendence of redemption.
Stop by Loganberry Books this weekend to hear an excerpt from the author herself, as well as some powerful local voices. Earley is donating all of her author royalties for A Map of Everything to the Brain Injury Association of America. The book is available in both black-and-white and a full-color Art Edition featuring 20 original illustrations by artist Christa Donner.
http://amapofeverything.com/cleveland
Josh Usmani is a 27 year old local artist, curator and writer. Since 2008, his work has been featured in over 50 local and regional exhibitions.
Shaker Heights, OH 44120