The Midtown Scholar Bookstore is honored to welcome award-winning writers Katie Yee and Weike Wang to Harrisburg for a wide-ranging conversation on the craft of writing, the publishing industry, and one of the most anticipated debut novels of the year, Maggie; Or, a Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar by Katie Yee.
Registration is free, but it is required to attend this event. Doors will open at 6:00 p.m., and the event will begin at 7:00 p.m. Seating is available on a general admission, first-come, first-served basis. Early arrival is encouraged. Books will be available for purchase at the event, and both authors will be available afterwards for a book signing.
This event will be live-streamed. Every live-stream ticket includes one signed copy of Maggie; Or, a Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar and the live-stream link. The link will be sent at least 24 hours before the event's start. Please check your spam folder if you do not receive the link in time. The books will be shipped via USPS Priority. U.S. addresses only. Please include your shipping address at checkout.
About the Book
A Chinese American woman spins tragedy into comedy when her life falls apart in a taut, wry debut novel that grapples with grief, motherhood, and myths—perfect for fans of Joan Is Okay and Crying in H Mart.
A man and a woman walk into a restaurant. The woman expects a lovely night filled with endless plates of samosas. Instead, she finds out her husband is having an affair with a woman named Maggie.
A short while after, her chest starts to ache. She walks into an examination room, where she finds out the pain in her breast isn’t just heartbreak—it’s cancer. She decides to call the tumor Maggie.
Unfolding in fragments over the course of the ensuing months, Maggie; Or, a Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar follows the narrator as she embarks on a journey of grief, healing, and reclamation. She starts talking to Maggie (the tumor), getting acquainted with her body’s new inhabitant. She overgenerously creates a “Guide to My Husband: A User’s Manual” for Maggie (the other woman), hoping to ease the process of discovering her ex-husband’s whims and quirks. She turns her children’s bedtime stories into retellings of Chinese folklore passed down by her own mother, in an attempt to make them fall in love with their shared culture—and to maybe save herself in the process.
In the style of Jenny Offill and the tradition of Nora Ephron’s hilarious and devastating writing on heartbreak and womanhood, Maggie is a master class in transforming personal tragedy into a form of defiant comedy.
