Quarantine Session #95: Colette Brooks + Jennifer Egan

Summary

Acclaimed authors, Greenlight neighbors, and longtime friends Colette Brooks and Jennifer Egan (Manhattan Beach) joined us for a virtual conversation and launch for Colette’s newest book of nonfiction, Trapped in the Present Tense. In a lyrical and inventive blend of history, memoir, and visual essays, Brooks explores the mechanics and malleability of the collective American memory. Revisiting some of the more forgotten aspects of recent events in the American story to explain our challenging and often puzzling present—including televised assassinations, the Doomsday Clock, and obsessive diarists—Brooks refreshes the American narrative and “ruminates upon the past while reframing…our present perceptions of what matters most” (Booklist). Brooks and Egan held court and eschewed reminiscence for a clear-eyed talk on craft and “irresponsible research” that kept a steady gaze on “American darkness writ large” (Recorded January 17, 2021)