Award-winning Rhode Island Author Stephen Dobyns to Visit Providence Public Library March 11

Providence Public Library welcomes award-winning author Stephen Dobyns for a book talk and signing of his latest chilling literary novel The Burn Palace in the Library’s Ship Room (1st Floor), 150 Empire Street, Providence.

Praise for THE BURN PALACE:

“I’ve read some very good novels this year, but this one is the best of the best….Dobyns has always been good but this book is authentically great… The characters are vivid originals, not a stereotype among them, and the story pulled this reader in so completely that I didn't want the book to end… I’ve written some ‘secrets of a small New England town’ books, but in THE BURN PALACE it’s as if Stephen Dobyns is saying—very gently—‘Hey Steve…this is how your really do it.’” — Stephen King

At two-thirty in the morning at the local hospital in the small town of Brewster, Rhode Island, Alice Alessio—also known as Nurse Spandex—is given the surprise of her life. Coming back from a secret tryst with a doctor, she peeks in to check on the newborn baby she was supposed to be watching, and finds a huge, writhing red-and-yellow snake in the bassinet instead. So begins the series of strange and disturbing events that start to plague this sleepy little community and confound the police. Woody Potter, the detective on the case, simply can't put it all together—what is the thread that ties a missing baby, a dead insurance investigator, and a local Wiccan sect together? Why do all roads seem to lead to the town yoga center (known to all as the You-You)? And what exactly is going on with Carl Krause, the local man who works at the funeral home, who has taken to growling at his neighbors?

An epic, twisted portrait of small-town America, The Burn Palace captivates with dozens of richly rendered multidimensional characters and a plot that keeps you guessing all the way to the end. It is the literary equivalent of Richard Russo crossed with Stephen King. (From www.goodreads.com )

About the Author

Stephen Dobyns is the author of more than 30 novels and poetry collections, including The Church of the Dead Girls, Cold Dog Soup, and Cemetery Nights. Among his many honors and awards are a Melville Cane Award, Pushcart Prizes, National Poetry Series prize, and three National Endowment for the Arts fellowships. His novels have been translated into 20 languages, and his poetry has appeared in the Best American Poems anthology. Dobyns teaches creative writing at Warren Wilson College and has taught at the University of Iowa and Sarah Lawrence College. He lives in Westerly, Rhode Island.

Parking is available at the Providence Hilton Parking Garage: $3/3 hours. Bring ticket to the library for validation.