Kevin Desinger to Read from Debut Novel

In Kevin Desinger's debut novel, The Descent of Man, we meet Jim Sandusky, a quiet wine steward who lives in Portland with his wife, Marla. One night they wake to hear two men trying to steal his car. Jim makes a bad decision and ends up over his head, mired in a sinister situation and estranged from his wife.

The unfolding events of the story challenge the reader with a number of ethical issues that lead to the recurring question, “What would I do if faced with a similar situation?" The book is a suspenseful page-turner that will force you to consider how quickly it can all go bad and spiral out of control.

Author Bob Shacochis said this about Desinger's novel: "There are books that you can't put down, and there are books that won't go away even after you put them down, the force of their moral conundrums haunting the stories of our own lives. The Descent of Man is a spectacular showcase for both literary virtues—the riveting tale of a modest but perfect life under assault, and a resonating challenge to our own self-knowledge, the authenticity of that knowledge, which can only be confirmed through crisis." 

Kevin Desinger spent his first seventeen years in Coos Bay, Oregon, finished high school in Fairbanks, Alaska, and worked summers on the Alaska Railroad to pay for college. After graduating from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, he moved to Portland, where he has lived for the past thirty years. In the '80s he wrote for Willamette Week, the Oregonian, and a number of regional publications.

Desinger will read from his new novel at Broadway Books on Tuesday, May 10th, at 7 pm. We hope you can join us for the event.