We are excited to bring back in-person events, but bear with us as we figure out the best way forward. For now, here are a few guidelines for how our in-person events will work:

— All attendees must wear a face mask at all times, regardless of vaccination status.

— Tickets are limited to restrict capacity, and each ticket will include either a copy of the featured book or a Books Are Magic gift card of equivalent value.

— Additional copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event.

— A signing will follow the talk.

— Home address is collected for contact tracing purposes; it will not be used otherwise.

— The event will also be broadcast for free online.

— As a reminder: If you are not feeling well, please do not come to the event, even if you have a ticket; email us and we'll work it out.

If you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request accessibility accommodations, please contact eventhelp@booksaremagic.net.

Named a Summer Must Read by Wall Street Journal, Town & Country, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire, Refinery29, and more

“[Hoby] might have just written the defining New York City novel of our fraught, socially anxious, and politically tumultuous times.” —Interview

A powerful novel of youth, desire, and moral conflict, in which a young man is seduced by the mirage of glamour—at terrible cost.

Arriving in New York City for an internship at an elite but fading magazine, Luca feels invisible: smart but not worldly, privileged but broke, and uncertain how to navigate a new era of social change. Among his peers is Zara, a young Black woman whose sharp wit and frank views on injustice create tension in the office. Luca is equally drawn to an attractive and wealthy white couple—a prominent artist and her filmmaker husband—whose lifestyle he finds alien and alluring. As summer arrives, Luca is swept up in the fever dream of their marriage, joining them at their beach house, and nurturing an infatuation both frustrating and dangerous. Only after he learns of a spectacular tragedy in the city he has left behind does he begin to realize the moral consequences of his allegiances.

In language at once lyrical and incisive, Hermione Hoby (“a writer of extreme intelligence, insight, style and beauty” —Ann Patchett) offers a clear-eyed, unsettling novel of the allure of privilege and the costs of complacency.

Hermione Hoby is the author of the novel Neon in Daylight, which was twice listed as a New York Times editors' choice. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, The Guardian, The New York Times, and Frieze. Raised in London, she lives in Colorado.

Leslie Jamison is the New York Times bestselling author of The Empathy Exams, The Recovering, Make it Scream, Make it Burn, and a novel, The Gin Closet. She is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and teaches at Columbia University. She lives in Brooklyn with her daughter.