BookPeople Presents: Mo Daviau - Epic and Lovely

Schedule

Tue Sep 16 2025 at 07:00 pm to 08:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

BookPeople | Austin, TX

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BookPeople welcomes Mo Daviau in conversation with Amy Gentry to celebrate the release of Epic and Lovely.
About this Event

Please welcome Mo Daviau to celebrate Epic and Lovely!

This event is free and open to the public.

  • Start time: 7:00 P.M.
  • Run time: 45-60 minutes, followed by a signing line.
  • Location: The second floor of BookPeople.

The author will be signing and personalizing copies of the book after the speaking portion of the event.

  • To get a book signed, a copy of the event book or an item of equal value must be purchased from BookPeople.

Guidelines:

  • Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
  • If you have any other questions, please visit our Eventbrite FAQ. If your question isn't covered in the FAQ, feel free to email us at [email protected].
  • All event guidelines are subject to change.
  • BookPeople reserves the right to cancel or postpone this event if necessary.
  • There will not be a live stream or recording available.

About the book:

Epic and Lovely is the swan song of Nina Simone Blaine, the daughter of a long-dead 1950s Vegas crooner and a Texas beauty queen forty years his junior. In the wake of her unexpected divorce, Nina returns to her hometown of Los Angeles to spend her final days with The Friends of the Good Thumb, a support group for patients with A12 Fibrillin Deficiency Syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects children of much-older fathers, causes several physical deformities, and results in death around the age of forty.

Written as a deathbed letter to the UCLA physician who has tracked Nina and the other Good Thumbs throughout their lives, Nina recounts her final days with the group and with Cole, the charismatic, sadistic fellow A12er with whom she has fallen madly in love, who charms and harms her in equal measures. An unlikely alliance with a tech billionaire, the return of her estranged mother, and the birth of the baby she never thought she’d have force Nina to reckon with the triumphs and mistakes of her life and to fight to leave her child in good hands.

About the author:

Mo Daviau is the author of the novel Every Anxious Wave, which was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. A graduate of Smith College and the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan, Daviau lives in Portland, Oregon, where she works as a bookseller.

About the moderator:

AMY GENTRY is the internationally bestselling author of the novels Good as Gone, Last Woman Standing, and Bad Habits. Her book reviews and essays have appeared in numerous outlets, including the Paris Review, Chicago Tribune, and Texas Monthly, and her book of music criticism about Tori Amos was published by the Bloomsbury 33 1/3 series. She holds a PhD in English from the University of Chicago, loves pangolins, and lives in Austin, Texas.

By purchasing a book from BookPeople, you are not only supporting a local, independent business – you’re showing publishers that they should continue sending authors to BookPeople.

Thank you for supporting Mo Daviau, Amy Gentry, and your local independent bookstore!

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Where is it happening?

BookPeople, 603 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin, United States

Event Location & Nearby Stays:

Tickets

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BookPeople

Host or Publisher BookPeople

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