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;X-APPLE-RADIUS=10;X-TITLE=Virtual:geo:38.8122835,-77.1 171899 GEO:38.8122835;-77.1171899 DESCRIPTION:Author Laura Zigman also wrote "Animal Husbandry\," "Dating Big Bird\," "Piece of Work\," and "Her." She lives near Boston with her h usband\, son\, and Sheltie..\nhttps://alexandria.libnet.info/event/4750527 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:We are delighted to have best-selling auth or Laura Zigman join us virtually for Let's Talk Books this month to discu ss her latest book\, Separation Anxiety.
\nExcerpt from the publisher\, Harper Collins/Ecco: "Judy never intended to start wearing the dog. But when she stumbled across her son Teddy's old b aby sling during a halfhearted basement cleaning\, something in her snappe d. So: the dog went into the sling\, Judy felt connected to another living being\, and she's repeated the process every day since. Life hasn't gone according to Judy's plan. Her career as a children's book author offered a glimpse of success before taking an embarrassing nose dive. Teddy\, now a teenager\, treats her with some combination of mortification and indiffer ence. Her best friend is dying. And her husband\, Gary\, has become a pot- addled professional "snackologist" who she can't afford to divorce. On top of it all\, she has a painfully ironic job writing articles for a self-he lp website\, a poor fit for someone seemingly incapable of helping herself ."
\nFrom Washington Post Book Critic Ron Charles:
"The light from Laura Zigman&rsquo\;s new novel\, &ldquo\;Separation Anxie
ty\,&rdquo\; is generated by a kind of literary nuclear fusion: an intense
compression of grief and humor. The combination of those elements usually
produces cynical black comedy\, something witty and bitter\, but Zigman&r
squo\;s work is too tender for that."
\;
"Separation Anxiet
y" is a long-awaited comeback for this clever writer who hasn&rsquo\;t pub
lished a novel since &ldquo\;Piece of Work&rdquo\; in 2006. A series of pe
rsonal tragedies\, including the deaths of her parents and her own cancer
diagnosis\, swept Zigman into what she calls &ldquo\;so many dormant years
.&rdquo\; But now\, she&rsquo\;s transmuted those struggles into a new boo
k &mdash\; a &ldquo\;second chance&rdquo\; &mdash\; about a once-successfu
l author whose world is collapsing under the weight of disappointment and
fear."
From author Alice Hoffman\, &ldquo\;Separa tion Anxiety \;is a hilarious\, heart-breaking and thought-provoking p ortrait of a difficult marriage\, as fierce as it is funny.... My advice: Start reading and don&rsquo\;t stop until you get to the last page of this wise and wonderful novel." \;&mdash\;Alice Hoffman \;
\nFrom Chelsea Handler: &ldquo\;I love \;Separation Anxie
ty . . .Laura Zigman is an emotional sharp-shooter&mdash\;she is able to h
ome in on the most tender\, revealing\, exquisitely painful aspects of our
relationships with others and with ourselves. And somehow she manages to
come out the other end with hope\, having found what was most meaningful a
fter all. And by the way\, I can totally relate to the desire to wear one&
rsquo\;s dog. If I could\, I would.&rdquo\; &mdash\;Chelsea Handler