Steven Rowley presents 'Take Me With You' and 'Our Guncle'

Third Place Books welcomes The Guncle author Steven Rowley to our Lake Forest Park store to celebrate the launch of his new novel , which follows a man whose life is upended when his husband of thirty years seemingly chooses to be abducted by aliens. Steven will also be discussing his new kids' book , a heartfelt tale of family in all its unexpected forms.

This event is free and open to the public. For important updates, RSVP is highly recommended in advance. This event will include a public signing and time for audience Q&A. Sustain our author series by purchasing a copy of the featured book!

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This event is free to attend. Registration is required in advance.

"Only national treasure Steven Rowley could blur the otherworldly with the everyday and turn all of it into heartache-flavored comedy." —Catherine Newman, New York Times bestselling author of Sandwich and Wreck
We are all alien, even to the people who know us best.
College professor Jesse del Ruth has been abandoned. Thirty years into their relationship, Jesse witnesses his husband, Norman, get out of bed late one night, walk into their Joshua Tree backyard, step into a strange beam of light and . . . disappear. How could Norman desert him after a lifetime together? Where did he go? And, most confoundingly . . . will he ever return? Jesse knew they were both feeling stuck, longing for something they couldn’t quite name. But was their rut so deep that Norman’s only option was to leave Jesse behind?
As Jesse struggles to understand Norman’s disappearance, he tries to piece together his new reality. Is he expected to wait patiently for a partner who may never come back? Or is this an opportunity for reinvention? He is, after all, alone for the first time in his adult life. Should he return to the classroom? Put in a pool? Get a dog? Call his estranged mother? What does it mean to be alone when you’ve always been one half of a whole?
When Norman’s sister, Lally, lands on Jesse’s doorstep with an urgent request, Norman’s absence becomes even more profound. Add to Jesse’s grief and confusion a conspiracy-theorist neighbor, a strange man following him, and suspicions that he may have had a hand in Norman’s disappearance, and Jesse starts to crack under the pressure. With his husband missing and the world closing in, all eyes are on Jesse. Before he can understand how Norman could leave it all behind, Jesse must confront what it means to stay.
In Take Me With You, Steven Rowley brings his resonant wit and emotional insight to an epic love story—an exploration of the forces that draw two people into the same orbit and the gravity that threatens to pull them apart.

NYT bestselling author of The Guncle brings us a heartfelt story about grief and family.
After the loss of their mom, siblings Grant and Maisie have come to visit their Guncle who they call GUP (for Gay Uncle Patrick) in Palm Springs. GUP can’t bear how sad they all feel, and he tries everything he can think of to make them happy. But swimming pools and milkshakes and new animal friends are only temporary fixes. It isn’t until one quiet night, under the stars, that they come to realize what they’ve been searching for has been with them all along.
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Guncle comes a moving exploration of the lessons we learn as we journey through hard times together, and the importance of family—in all its unexpected forms.

Steven Rowley is the New York Times bestselling author of six novels, including Lily and the Octopus, a Washington Post Notable Book; The Editor, an NPR Best Book of the Year; The Guncle, winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor; and The Celebrants, a Today Show Read with Jenna book club pick. His fiction has been translated into twenty languages. He resides in Palm Springs, California.

Founded in 1998 in Lake Forest Park, Washington, Third Place Books is dedicated to the creation of a community around books and the ideas inside them. With locations in Lake Forest Park and Seattle's Ravenna and Seward Park neighborhoods, Third Place Books is proud to serve the entire Seattle metro area. Learn more about their event series at thirdplacebooks.com/events

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