BELFAST — Left Bank Books, in downtown Belfast, invites the public to a free talk and book signing by writer Bill Roorbach (Lucky Turtle, The Girl of the Lake, The Remedy of Love, and Life Among Giants) on Thursday, August 1, at 6:30 p.m., at the shop. The event is a celebration of what Left Bank Books refers to as Roorbach’s most creative novel yet, Beep, which features the wisdom and insight of Beep, a squirrel monkey who saves the world.

In Beep, Roorbach’s signature lyricism and sweeping lighthearted prose shines. The novel opens in Costa Rica where we meet Beep who, at “three rainy seasons” old, decides it’s time to “spread his genetic material.” In his travels he soon meets eleven-year-old Inga who is on vacation with her parents. When her family returns home to Manhattan, Inga sneaks Beep into her backpack and the adventures begin. 

Roorbach’s work has received two Maine Literary Awards — fiction for Life Among Giants, and nonfiction for Temple Stream — and the Flannery O’Connor Award. He is a fellow of the Civatella Rainieri Foundation and spent a two-month residency in their medieval castle in Umbria, Italy, in 2018. His writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, New York Magazine, Harper’s, The Atlantic, Playboy, The American Scholar, Granta, Ecotone, and many more. Roorbach’s two books on writing include Writing Life Stories and The Art of Truth: Contemporary Creative Nonfiction.

Reservations are strongly recommended for this event. Call 207-338-9009 or email info@leftbankbookshop.com.

Left Bank Books is located at 109 Church Street in downtown Belfast, and there’s ample, free parking in front of the shop and in an adjacent city lot.