Harry Bennett Branch Local Author Series: Michael Jai Grant in Conversation with Julie Casper Roth

Michael Jai Grant will discuss his debut novel, The Limited Edition Bicentennial Cadillac Convertible Joy Ride, with Julie Casper Roth, an Emmy Award-nominated and award-winning filmmaker, artist and writer.

Was it an abduction or escape? Muriel has vanished from the senior home, and young Eve is behind the wheel, driving north in search of answers. With newfound courage, this Boomer and Zoomer forge an unlikely bond, discovering truths about themselves and each other—while their families are in hot pursuit. Now it's up to the getaway car, the novel's narrator and only constant witness, to tell you what happens.

Set aside what you think you know about generation gaps as Muriel and Eve put it all to the test. This "shaggy and comic road novel" (Kirkus Reviews) challenges notions of dementia and elder care, sexuality, religion versus spirituality, and the complex world of teenagedom set against the tedium of late-adulthood. Friendship, family and liberation quite literally drive the action.

Registration required.

Michael Jai Grant is an American fiction writer, filmmaker and photographer. He was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. Imbued with a strong mix of justice, reason and creativity, he weaves semi-autobiographical details into enhanced stories of greater import. He attended Syracuse University and Boston University and was named an Eastman Kodak Scholar. An avid traveler and friend to all dogs, he lives in North Stamford with his husband, the artist Jon Galt.

Julie Casper Roth's work has been screened nationally and internationally at venues including Baekam Art Hall in South Korea, the Athens International Film and Video Festival, Chicago Reeling LGBTQ Film Festival, SCOPE Basel, the Paris International Lesbian and Feminist Film Festival, Anthology Film Archives, and many others. She is a two-time finalist for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, the recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Video, a recipient of the College Art Association Professional Development Fellowship, and was awarded a New York State Council on the Arts Individual Artist grant. A cum laude graduate of Smith College, she received her MFA from the State University of New York at Albany and teaches film, video and television production.