Writers In The Loft Presents THE STRANGER IN THE WOODS
By: BWW News Desk Feb. 16, 2017
On Tuesday, March 14, celebrated author Michael Finkel (True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea, a 2015 major motion picture) comes to town with his latest work, THE STRANGER IN THE WOODS: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit. Finkel will discuss one of this generation's remarkable news stories - the true tale of a hermit who lived alone in a tent in the Maine woods for twenty-seven years. Don't miss this gripping story of survival that asks the fundamental questions about solitude, community, and what makes a good life.
The 7pm event includes an author presentation and moderated Q+A, plus book signing and meet-and-greet. It will be held at the Music Hall Loft at 131 Congress Street, in downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Ian Aldrich, Deputy Editor at Yankee Magazine, will be the evening's guest moderator. Aldrich is a big fan of Michael Finkel's work and his new book, THE STRANGER IN THE WOODS, in particular. "Finkel's gifts as a writer and journalist come together wonderfully in this riveting, insightful profile of Christopher Knight and his quest to live a life alone in the Maine woods. I'm looking forward to speaking with Finkel about the book and I hope many will join in the discussion."
ABOUT THE BOOK
For readers of Jon Krakauer and The Lost City of Z, THE STRANGER IN THE WOODS is a remarkable tale of survival and solitude - the true story of a man who lived alone in a tent in the Maine woods, never talking to another person and surviving by stealing supplies from nearby cabins for twenty-seven years.
In 1986, twenty-year-old Christopher Knight left his home in Massachusetts, drove to Maine, and disappeared into the forest. He would not have another conversation with another human being until nearly three decades later when he was arrested for stealing food. Living in a tent through harsh winters, he had survived by his wits and courage, developing ingenious ways to store edibles and water, and to avoid freezing to death. He broke into nearby cottages for food, clothes, reading material, and other provisions, taking only what he needed, but terrifying a community never able to solve the mysterious burglaries. Based on extensive interviews with Knight himself, this is a vividly detailed account of Knight's secluded life-why did he leave? what did he learn?-as well as the challenges he has faced since returning to the world. THE STRANGER IN THE WOODS is an unforgettable story of survival that asks fundamental questions about solitude, community, and what makes a good life, and a deeply moving portrait of a man who was determined to live his own way.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Finkel is the author of True Story: A Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa, which was adapted into a 2015 major motion picture. He has written for National Geographic, GQ, Rolling Stone, Esquire, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, and The New York Times. He lives in western Montana.
ABOUT THE MODERATOR
Ian Aldrich is the Deputy Editor at Yankee Magazine, where he has worked for more than a decade. He is the magazine's staff feature writer, whose stories delve deep into issues facing small communities throughout New England. He also oversees the magazine's digital endeavors, including the publication of its bi-monthly digital magazine. His work has appeared in numerous other publications and has also been recognized by the Best American Sports Writing anthology.
TICKETS
The ticket package for Writers in the Loft: Michael Finkel on Tuesday, March 14, at 7pm is $40 ($38, members). In addition to a reserved seat, the package includes a copy of THE STRANGER IN THE WOODS: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit ($25.95, hardcover), a bar beverage, and book signing meet-and-greet. Packages can be purchased through The Music Hall Box Office, located at 28 Chestnut Street, Portsmouth, over the phone at 603.436.2400, or online at www.themusichall.org
About Writers in the Loft
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.
Series Sponsor: RMC Research Corporation
Season Sponsors: Carey & Giampa Realtors; Portwalk Place; The River House restaurant
Contributing Partner: The University of New Hampshire
Media Partner: Yankee Magazine
About The Music Hall
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.
Web: www.TheMusicHall.org | Twitter: @MusicHall | Facebook: /musichall | YouTube: /musichallnh
"The crown jewel of Portsmouth's cultural scene"- Yankee Magazine
"The beating cultural heart of New Hampshire's seacoast" - Boston Globe
For more information, contact:
Margaret Talcott, Producer
The Music Hall
or Patricia Lynch, Executive Producer
PRAISE for THE STRANGER IN THE WOODS
"Michael Finkel has somehow found a story that takes the two primary human relationships-to nature and to one another-and deftly upends our assumptions about both. His subject, Christopher Knight, survived alone for decades at the fringes of American society. In Finkel's hands, that story assumes the power and dignity of parable and feels as if we have having been waiting our whole lives to hear what someone like Knight might say about us. Predictably, it's not good. But it feels true and honest and important. This was a breathtaking book to read and many weeks later I am still thinking about the implications for our society and-by extension-for my own life."-Sebastian Junger, author of Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging
"Michael Finkel has done something magical with this profound book: He's written a gripping modern parable about how one man did the unthinkable, walked away from life as we know it to find a sort of happiness in isolation and silence. His investigation runs deep, summoning not only his surprising, poignant friendship with the book's protagonist, but also the human history of our own attempts to find meaning in a noisy world. In some sacred forest place the hermit waits for us: he is us. This book's promise is simple: If we're lucky enough to find him, we may find ourselves one step closer to perfection."-Michael Paterniti, bestselling author of The Telling Room and Driving Mr. Albert
"I burned through this haunting tale in one rapt sitting. Chris Knight is an American original, a man who kept himself hidden from all other humans for more than a quarter of a century. Every life choice we make comes with a price, and Knight's can be tallied in moments of serenity and winters survived, or in break-ins and stolen propane tanks-the final calculus, astonishing, poignant, and vexing as it is, falls to us." -John Vaillant, bestselling author of The Tiger and The Golden Spruce
"As ever, Michael Finkel's voice in this fresh new chronicle is clean, clear, lucid-his attention fair and compassionate. The Stranger in the Woods is an altogether surprising page-turner that helps us to see his twisted saint's essential sanity, and in so doing to question our own."-Lawrence Weschler, author of Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder and Waves Passing the Night: Walter Murch in the Land of the Astrophysicists
"The Stranger in the Woods is a wry meditation on one man's attempt to escape life's distractions and look inwards, to find meaning not by doing, but by being."-Martin Sixsmith, Philomena
"[A] fascinating account of Knight's renunciation of humanity... Deeply compelling."-Publishers Weekly
__________________________________________
Margaret M. Talcott, The Music Hall, Producer,
Writers on a New England Stage and Writers in the Loft;
28 Chestnut Street, Portsmouth NH 03801
Direct line - 603-766-2193
Cell 603-661-1519
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