News & Events Modernist Author Chris Adrian to Read at Amherst Books on Feb. 28

AMHERST, Mass.— Chris Adrian—author, pediatrician and divinity student—will read from his critically acclaimed second novel, The Children’s Hospital, at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28, at Amherst Books (8 Main Street). Sponsored by the Amherst College Creative Writing Center, the event is free and open to the public.

What happens when a pediatric facility becomes a modern-day Noah’s Ark? The Children’s Hospital (2006), hailed as a highly imaginative work in a style aptly called “medical magical realism,” answers that question. The novel follows the doctors and patients of a children’s hospital who find themselves set adrift over seven miles of water, the only survivors of an apocalyptic flood. The protagonist, a young medical student who discovers her own miraculous healing powers, must struggle with her fellow inhabitants to maintain an everyday existence in this uncertain world, where angels abound and precarious new lives are constantly redefined. Myla Goldberg of The New York Times Book Review praised the linguistic power of this young author: “To read Chris Adrian is to take part in the exciting process of watching a talented and original writer gain mastery of his powerful gifts.”

A native of Washington, D.C., Adrian is also the author of Gob’s Grief (2001), his surrealistic debut novel, and has written short stories for The New Yorker, The Paris Review and Story, among others. A graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, Adrian recently finished his pediatric residency at the University of California, San Francisco, and is currently studying at the Harvard Divinity School.

The Amherst College Creative Writing Center sponsors a yearly reading series featuring both emerging and established authors. For more information, call 413/542-8200.

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