Washington Independent Review of Books

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Ben McGrath in Conversation with Evan Osnos

Location 645 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Washington, DC (and virtual)
Date Monday, April 25, 2022 at 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Duration   1 hours
Link https://www.eventbrite.com/e/in-store-event-ben-mcgrath-riverman-in-conversation-with-evan-osnos-tickets-309859617457
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Details
Join New Yorker staff writer Ben McGrath for an in-person event to discuss his debut book, Riverman , in conversation with Evan Osnos.

COVID-19 Information: Please note that East City Bookshop continuously monitors public health guidance to ensure the safety of customers, authors, and our staff and reserves the right to adjust in-person events. Masks and proof of vaccination are required for all attendees.

About Riverman

The riveting true story of Dick Conant, an American folk hero who, over the course of more than twenty years, canoed solo thousands of miles of American rivers—and then disappeared near the Outer Banks of North Carolina. This book “contains everything: adventure, mystery, travelogue, and unforgettable characters” (David Grann, best-selling author of Killers of the Flower Moon).

For decades, Dick Conant paddled the rivers of America, covering the Mississippi, Yellowstone, Ohio, Hudson, as well as innumerable smaller tributaries. These solo excursions were epic feats of planning, perseverance, and physical courage. At the same time, Conant collected people wherever he went, creating a vast network of friends and acquaintances who would forever remember this brilliant and charming man even after a single meeting.

Ben McGrath, a staff writer at The New Yorker, was one of those people. In 2014 he met Conant by chance just north of New York City as Conant paddled down the Hudson, headed for Florida. McGrath wrote a widely read article about their encounter, and when Conant’s canoe washed up a few months later, without any sign of his body, McGrath set out to find the people whose lives Conant had touched–to capture a remarkable life lived far outside the staid confines of modern existence.

Riverman is a moving portrait of a complex and fascinating man who was as troubled as he was charismatic, who struggled with mental illness and self-doubt, and was ultimately unable to fashion a stable life for himself; who traveled alone and yet thrived on connection and brought countless people together in his wake. It is also a portrait of an America we rarely see: a nation of unconventional characters, small river towns, and long-forgotten waterways.

About Ben McGrath

Ben McGrath is a longtime staff writer for The New Yorker. He lives outside New York City in a small town on the Hudson, with his wife and two children. This is his first book.

About Evan Osnos

Evan Osnos joined The New Yorker as a staff writer in 2008 and covers politics and foreign affairs. His recent pieces include profiles of Joe Biden and Mark Zuckerberg, a history of the Republican Party in Greenwich, Connecticut, and a recounting of his visit to North Korea during the nuclear crisis. Sections of his book Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China, based on eight years of living in Beijing, first appeared in the magazine. The book won the 2014 National Book Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. In 2020, Osnos published Joe Biden: The Life, the Run, and What Matters Now. His most recent book is Wildland: The Making of America’s Fury.

Previously, Osnos worked as Beijing bureau chief for the Chicago Tribune, where he was part of a team that won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. Before his assignment to China, he worked in the Middle East, reporting mostly from Iraq. He is a CNN contributor and a frequent guest on “The Daily Show,” “Fresh Air,” and other programs. He lives in Washington, D.C.

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