Ankur Thakkar with Meher Manda: Blow Yourself Up

• This event will take place at street level.
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• ASL interpretation may be provided (based on the availability of interpreters) but must be requested at least 2 weeks in advance of the event.
• Please email us at [email protected] as soon as possible if you require ASL interpretation, guaranteed seating, or other accommodations. Seats are limited.We will do our best to serve your needs!

A story of first love across cities spanning the decade that transformed the internet

In the halls of an elite East Coast high school, Arjun and Payal fall in love as the world begins to tilt toward the digital. Over the next eight years, their trajectories diverge as sharply as the fractured internet itself. Payal ascends to the dizzying, dopamine-fueled heights of New York’s influencer economy, finding fame on Boost, a looping video app that is as rewarding as it is demanding. Meanwhile, in a cavernous office in Chicago, Arjun, a musician whose dreams have quieted, now cleans up the same platform’s debris, moderating the internet’s darkest videos. When a brutal act of political violence against a beloved musician goes viral, this rip in reality forces the pair to confront the motivations of the platforms they inhabit. A sharp exploration of creative ambition and the multifarious nature of identity, this is a story of love in the time of infinite scroll and a look at what we sacrifice to be seen.

Ankur Thakkar is a writer and multimedia artist whose stories have appeared in Guernica, [PANK], and TriQuarterly. He was a 2025 Sewanee Writers’ Conference Scholar and his artwork has been exhibited at the Palais de Tokyo and La Friche la Belle de Mai. He lives and works in Brooklyn.

Meher Manda is a writer of poetry, fiction, and culture criticism from Bombay, India, currently stationed in Providence, RI. Her work has been published in The Margins, Los Angeles Review, Catapult, epiphany, and elsewhere. Sicko Girl & Other Women is her debut short story collection, forthcoming in 2027 from Feminist Press in the US and Penguin Random House in India. A Town Like Every Other, her debut graphic novel, is forthcoming from Hachette in 2027. She is the Editor-at-Large at Radix and teaches at the Rhode Island School of Design. Her writing wrestles with the tensions that splinter the self from state / woman from body / singular from spectacle / guttural from ordinary.

Brookline Booksmith, thriving in the heart of Coolidge Corner in Brookline, Massachusetts, since 1961, is one of New England’s premier independent bookstores. We offer a vast selection of books, ranging from current bestsellers to the most eclectic titles. We are also known for our beautiful and inspired gifts. Customers buy and sell gently used books in our treasured Used Book Cellar and enjoy our bountiful bargain book selection. We host award-winning events series (including our groundbreaking Transnational Literature Series), offering more than 300 author talks, community conversations, and book clubs annually. Find more at brooklinebooksmith.com!