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Author Talk: Morgan Talty "Night of the Living Rez" in Conversation with the Abbe Museum

  • Jesup Memorial Library 34 Mount Desert Street Bar Harbor, ME, 04609 (map)

This Author Talk is a free, public event hosted by the Jesup Library.


A New York Times, The Boston Globe, Vulture, Boston.com, Daily Beast, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, LitHub, Book Riot and WBUR Best Book of Summer. A Most Anticipated Book of the Year at LitHub, Book Riot, and Paste

Set in a Native community in Maine, Night of the Living Rez is a riveting debut collection about what it means to be Penobscot in the twenty-first century and what it means to live, to survive, and to persevere after tragedy.

In twelve striking, luminescent stories, author Morgan Talty―with searing humor, abiding compassion, and deep insight―breathes life into tales of family and a community as they struggle with a painful past and an uncertain future. A boy unearths a jar that holds an old curse, which sets into motion his family’s unraveling; a man, while trying to swindle some pot from a dealer, discovers a friend passed out in the woods, his hair frozen into the snow; a grandmother suffering from Alzheimer’s projects the past onto her grandson; and two friends, inspired by Antiques Roadshow, attempt to rob the tribal museum for valuable root clubs.

A collection that examines the consequences and merits of inheritance, Night of the Living Rez is an unforgettable portrayal of an Indigenous community and marks the arrival of a standout talent in contemporary fiction.