Writing about Iowa: A Conversation with Jane Smiley

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Date/Time:Monday, 06 Oct 2014 at 7:00 pm
Location:Sun Room, Memorial Union
Cost:Free
Contact:
Phone:515-294-9934
Channel:Lecture Series
Categories:Lectures Student activities
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Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jane Smiley discusses her new novel, "Some Luck." Book signing to follow.

Some Luck: A Novel
On their farm in Denby, Iowa, Rosanna and Walter Langdon abide by time-honored values that they pass on to their five wildly different yet equally remarkable children: Frank, the brilliant, stubborn first-born; Joe, whose love of animals makes him the natural heir to his family's land; Lillian, an angelic child who enters a fairy-tale marriage with a man only she will fully know; Henry, the bookworm who's not afraid to be different; and Claire, who earns the highest place in her father's heart. Moving from post-World War I America through the early 1950s, Some Luck gives us an intimate look at this family's triumphs and tragedies, zooming in on the realities of farm life, while casting - as the children grow up and scatter to New York, California, and everywhere in between - a panoramic eye on the monumental changes that marked the first half of the twentieth century. Rich with humor and wisdom, twists and surprises, Some Luck takes us through deeply emotional cycles of births and deaths, passions, and betrayals, displaying Smiley's dazzling virtuosity, compassion, and understanding of human nature and the nature of history, never discounting the role of fate and chance.