Brooklyn BookBeat: Author of humorous national bestseller to speak at Brooklyn By The Book

April 11, 2013 From Back Bay Books/Hachette Book Group
Maria Semple by Leta Warner.jpg
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Maria Semple, author of national bestseller “Where’d You Go, Bernadette,” has recently released her book in paperback (Back Bay Books; April 2, 2013), and is slated to speak in Brooklyn in early May. One of 2012’s most hilarious books, this dazzling satire was featured on numerous best-of lists, including the Top 10 Fiction Books of Time, People, and Janet Maslin.

“Where’d You Go, Bernadette” is about the perils of hyperactive modern parenting, the effects of technology on the family, and Bee, a quirky daughter and her search for her beloved, brilliant, misanthropic mother, Bernadette.  It is also an uproarious send-up of Semple’s own once hated, now adored adopted town of Seattle and of the devoted Bee’s epistolary hunt for her much-loved, off-kilter mother.

It is a comic delight that has added Semple’s name to the list of great literary satirists of our time. Storytelling this good can’t be confined to the page. Annapurna Pictures and Color Force have secured the feature film rights to “Where’d You Go, Bernadette.”

Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (500 Days of Summer) will write the screenplay. Semple will serve as executive producer along with Color Force’s Bryan Unkeless and Annapurna Pictures’ Ted Schipper. Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson will produce alongside Annapurna Pictures’ Megan Ellison.

Semple will appear in Brooklyn on May 9 to discuss her book as part of Community Bookstore’s and Congregation Beth Elohim’s Brooklyn By The Book series. Stay tuned for further details.

Maria Semple is the author of “This One Is Mine.” Before turning to fiction, she wrote for “Mad About You,” “Ellen,” and “Arrested Development.” Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker. She lives in Seattle.

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