Sandy Florian discusses and signs The Tree of No & Robert Savino Oventile discusses and signs Impossible Reading: Idolatry and Diversity in Literature
As slyly humorous as it is sublimely poetical, Florian's experimental novel riffs on Biblical stories from Genesis to Revelations to trace the career of a narrator who, unhesitant 'to taste the waste,' ventures forth from Eden to pursue meditations on the imagination, quirky civic projects, and an odd love affair with the enigmatic Montgomery, all the while struggling toward a resolute affirmation of the earthbound self. Oventile's study explores the impact of Biblical notions of idolatry on the treatment of diversity in literary works including Herman Melville's Moby-Dick and Alfredo Vida's gods go begging. The study's final chapter revisits the debate over removing the Christian cross from Los Angeles County's official seal.