Left Bank Books, in downtown Belfast, invites the public to a free talk and signing with Brock Clarke, the author of nine books and a professor of creative writing at Bowdoin College, on Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 6:30 p.m., at the bookshop. The event will celebrate that week’s release of Clarke’s latest book, Special Election, "a collection of stories that showcase his rapier wit, inexhaustible imagination, and brilliant leaps of logic that transform his characters’ desperation and distress into tragicomic delight," said Left Bank, in a news release.

"In Special Election, ingenious fictions target our all-too-familiar preoccupations and vulnerabilities—belonging, (dis)engagement, the struggle for self-worth, the difficulty of loving and being loved, the banality and absurdity of existence," said Left Bank.

In the title story, Lawrence Welk is ousted from heaven to run for governor in North Dakota. In another story, we follow the former provisional coalition administrator of post-liberation Iraq, now a ski instructor in Vermont. In “Slim Jim,” the protagonist finds himself very slowly choking to death of a frozen microwavable burrito.

Through loopy misdirection and mordant observation, Clarke devotes himself to showing his characters and readers exactly what is wrong.

"Yet the sharpness of his attention and lavish ludicrousness of his storylines belie a sneaking affection for this imperfect, disappointing world filled with imperfect, disappointing humans," said Left Bank. "Through Clarke has been compared to such greats as Saul Bellow and George Saunders, the nine stories in Special Election vibrate at a frequency all his own, showcasing the strengths of one of our most gifted comic writers."

Joining Clarke in conversation is Lewis Robinson, whose most recent novel is The Islanders (2024). Robinson’s earlier books are Officer Friendly and Other Stories and Water Dogs. He is the winner of a Whiting Award, the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Award, and a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. His writing has appeared in Sports Illustrated, The New York Times Book Review, and on the National Public Radio program “Selected Shorts.” He teaches at the University of Maine at Farmington and lives in Portland, Maine with his family.

Admission to the event, which will take place at the bookshop, is by donation. Follow this link to reserve your seat(s). or visit leftbankbookshop.com. Questions? Call Left Bank Books at 207-338-9009, or email: info@leftbankbookshop.com. Ample free parking is available in front of the shop and in an adjacent city lot.