Books & Books Hosts Authors For Reading and Discussion

Authors Kaylie Jones and Matthew McGevna were recent guests at Books & Books on Main Street in Westhampton Beach. The authors read from their latest work and held a discussion on writing and publishing, followed by a book signing.

Reading from his debut novel Little Beasts, McGevna recited the last half of the opening chapter before introducing Jones to read from her novel The Anger Meridian. Little Beasts captures a working class neighborhood on Long Island and the way in which it reacts to the brutal murder of an eight-year-old boy at the hands of a troubled teenager. It was published by Akashic Books’ new imprint Kaylie Jones Books (KJB).

The Anger Meridian utilizes the unreliable narrator to tell the story of a woman, Merryn, and her young daughter after they flee to Mexico in the wake of the death of Merryn’s husband, Beau. Jones read the selection that treats Merryn’s first arrival at her mother’s house in San Miguel de Allende.

This is Jones’ sixth book and fifth novel. Prior to The Anger Meridian Jones penned Lies My Mother Never Told Me, a memoir of her life growing up in the shadow of her famous father (novelist James Jones – From Here to Eternity) and complicated, alcoholic mother, Gloria. In 2013, Jones secured the KJB imprint through Akashic Books and has since published successful novels such as Unmentionables by Laurie Loewenstein, Sing in the Morning, Cry at Night by Barbara J. Taylor and The Love Book by Nina Solomon. McGevna’s novel is the most recent in the imprint. Jones graduated from East Hampton High School and teaches writing in the Stony Brook Southampton MFA program.

Following the reading, Jones and McGevna discussed the challenges of the writer-editor relationship, and the state of publishing in America. They have been touring together since July, and are scheduled to appear next at Canio’s in Sag Harbor on Sept. 5.