Author visit - M.T. Anderson - The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing" November 8, 2008

Author M.T. Anderson will speak and sign copies of his new book The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Volume II: Kingdom on the Waves on Saturday, November 8 at 7 p.m. at the Williamsburg Library Theatre, 515 Scotland Street. His talk is free of charge and no reservations are needed. For more information visit www.wrl.org or call (757) 259-4055.

Anderson is the author of several novels for young adults, including The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party, winner of the 2006 National Book Award, and Feed, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and was a finalist for the 2002 National Book Award.

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, and its sequel, are for readers in grades nine and above. It tells the story of a young black boy who recounts his youth in a Boston household of scientists and philosophers. Octavian soon learns that he and his mother are objects of one of the groups experiments to learn whether Africans are a separate and distinct species. As political unrest in the colonies grows, Octavian experiences the increasing horrors of what it means to be a slave. Critics praised Andersons work as an episodic, highly ambitious story, deeply rooted in eighteenth-century literary traditions.

The author is in town for Colonial Williamsburg Foundations 13th annual Brothers in Arms program, with special events examining the lives and complexities of free and enslaved blacks during the Revolutionary Era. He will also sign books at the WILLIAMSBURG Booksellers, 101 Visitor Center Dr., on Sunday, November 9 from 4 6 p.m.

Event submitted by Eventful.com on behalf of programs.