Klune mentioned a visit in Louisville, Kentucky that had taken place just a few days previously and when I looked at his itinerary for end-of-April-to-early-May, it was pretty much a new city, a new bookstore or library, every single day.
Klune’s book is about the final days of Earth as a black hole draws nearer and consumes planets in our solar system. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say there’s no last-minute reprieve. The Earth and every living thing on it is going to be destroyed and the emphasis in the book is what people are doing during those final days.
His talk touched upon the book, of course, but he also talked about queer history. If you’d like to re-experience some of what Klune shared with his audience, I recommend reading the afterword and pages 94 to 96 in We Burned So Bright.
Klune is one of my favorite authors and some of the books I’m excited for include Murmuration, which is coming in November, and the re-release of How to Be a Normal Person.
Originally published in 2015, How to Be a Normal Person can be read via Libby/Overdrive as well as a sequel, How to Be a Movie Star, which was published in 2019. I laughed so hard when reading these books and am thrilled that How to Be a Normal Person has a chance to attract new readership.
Publisher’s description for We Burned So Bright:
A heart-wrenching standalone novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune, We Burned So Bright follows an older queer couple on an end-of-the-world road-trip.
The road stretched out before them. No other cars, just the headlights on the blacktop. Above, the cracked moon in a kaleidoscope sky….
Husbands Don and Rodney have lived a good long life. Together they’ve experienced the highest highs of love and family, and lows so low that they felt like the end of the world.
Now, the world is ending for real. A wandering black hole is coming for Earth and in a month everything and everyone they’ve ever known will be gone.
Suddenly, after 40 years together, Don and Rodney are out of time. They’re in a race against the clock to make it from Maine to Washington State to take care of some unfinished business before it’s all over.
On the road they meet those who refuse to believe death is coming and those who rush to meet it. But there are also people living their final days as best they know how—impromptu weddings, bright burning bonfires, shared meals, and new friends.
And as the black hole draws near, among ball lightning and under a cracked moon in a kaleidoscope sky, Don and Rodney will look back on their lives and ask if their best was good enough.
Is it enough to burn bright if nothing comes from the ashes?
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