Catch authors Jonathan Safran Foer and Sam Sussman discuss the “Jewish novel today” in NYC next week

On Monday, October 27, two of America’s most celebrated Jewish authors will share the same stage to explore what the very concept of a “Jewish novel” means today. Jonathan Safran Foer—the author of the award-winning novels Everything Is Illuminated, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Here I Am—will appear alongside Sam Sussman, whose debut novel Boy From the North Country is already earning acclaim just a month after publication.

The event will be held at Congregation Rodeph Sholom on the Upper West Side, starting at 7 p.m. Tickets are currently on sale for around $17 here.

While the conversation is expected to cover the craft of writing and the “transformative power of Jewish literature,” as noted in the event’s official description, it would be remiss not to mention the buzz surrounding Sussman’s novel—a buzz that’s fully warranted given the book’s premise.

In 2021, Sussman wrote a Harper’s Magazine essay titled “The Silent Type: On (Possibly) Being Bob Dylan’s Son,” in which he recounts his mother, Fran Sussman’s, yearlong relationship with Dylan after meeting him in a Manhattan painting class. According to Sussman, Dylan reappeared in Fran’s life more than a decade later—nine months before Sussman’s birth in 1991.

Though the full truth remains elusive, Sussman’s new book—a work of autobiographical fiction—delves even deeper into the story. Clearly, there will be plenty to discuss on stage next week.