Susan Orlean

Susan Orlean

Joyride
Thursday, November 5, 7:00pm

Joyride is Orlean’s ninth book and her first memoir, often described as her most personal and vulnerable work. At its center is a guiding idea she states plainly: “the story of my life is the story of my stories.” Joyride is a magic carpet ride through Orlean’s life and career, where every day is an opportunity for discovery and every moment holds the potential for wonder. Throughout her storied career, her curiosity draws her to explore the most ordinary and extraordinary of places, from going deep inside the head of a regular ten-year-old boy for a legendary profile (The American Man Age Ten) to reporting on a woman who owns twenty-seven tigers, from capturing the routine magic of Saturday night to climbing Mt. Fuji.

Susan Orlean has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1992. She is widely known for books such as The Orchid Thief and The Library Book. Her writing has also appeared in Vogue, Rolling Stone, Esquire, and Outside. Orlean’s early career began in Portland, Oregon, at Willamette Week, followed by roles at Boston Phoenix and the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, before she joined The New Yorker. Her other books include Saturday Night, The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup, My Kind of Place, Rin Tin Tin, and On Animals. The Orchid Thief was adapted into the 2002 film Adaptation, with Meryl Streep portraying Orlean.