Stephen Greenblatt to Chat THE RISE AND FALL OF ADAM AND EVE at The Music Hall

The Music Hall's Writers in the Loft series welcomes back the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winner Stephen Greenblatt, author of The Swerve and Will in the World, to talk about his latest work, THE RISE AND FALL OF ADAM AND EVE, on Wednesday, November 1 at 7 p.m.

Greenblatt traces the ancient biblical story from its textual creation and delves into the greatest works of literature and art associated with it. He also documents the tale's collision with the emerging world of science and explores how the story of Adam and Eve has resonated with different people of various time periods and faiths -- and how, in return, people have spoken back, interpreting and embroidering the text to mirror their understandings of the world.

THE RISE AND FALL OF ADAM AND EVE is nothing less than the story of Western civilization: of the evolution of Western religious traditions, of Western philosophy, of Western art and culture, and of Western enlightenment.

The event includes an author presentation and a Q+A moderated by Margaret Talcott, Producer of Writers in the Loft, plus a book signing and a meet-and-greet.

The ticket package for Writers in the Loft: Stephen Greenblatt on Wednesday, November 1, at 7 pm, is $42 ($40 members). In addition to a reserved seat, the package includes a copy of THE RISE AND FALL OF ADAM AND EVE ($27.95 hardcover), a bar beverage, author presentation, Q+A, and book signing meet-and-greet. Packages can be purchased online at TheMusicHall.org, over the phone at 603.436.2400 or in person at the B2W Box Office at the Historic Theater, 28 Chestnut Street.

About the Author: Stephen Greenblatt is the John Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University. He is the Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning author of The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, in addition to Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. He is also the general editor of The Norton Shakespeare and The Norton Anthology of English Literature. This fall his latest book, The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve, was published by W. W. Norton, and a new edition of his acclaimed Marvelous Possessions: The Wonder of the New World is just out from the University of Chicago Press.

Akin to The Music Hall's anchor literary series, Writers on a New England Stage, Writers in the Loft features bestselling authors in a smaller, more intimate space. The series brings audiences today's top authors, the best of fiction and nonfiction, and award-winners across categories. The evening package includes a reserved seat and bar beverage, author presentation and Q+A, a copy of the book, and a meet-and-greet book signing with the featured writer.

The Music Hall is a performing arts center featuring curated entertainment from around the world in two theaters in its downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire campus - one, a landmark 1878 Victorian theater, designated an American Treasure for the Arts by the National Park Service's Save America's Treasures Program, the other the intimate Music Hall Loft around the corner, recently named "best performing arts venue" by Yankee Magazine and the recipient of the NH AIA award for design excellence. Visit www.TheMusicHall.org.