Greenwich Academy Alumni Courtney Maum will return home to discuss her acclaimed new novel, Alan Opts Out, in conversation with award-winning journalist and podcast producer Dana Chivvis, also a Greenwich Academy alumni. The book is about Belle Haven, status, success, family—and whether any of us can truly opt out.
Dana Chivvis
Courtney Maum
The conversation between two Greenwich Academy alumni promises local color, literary insight, and a lively look at a novel that holds a funny, affectionate mirror up to the town itself. Sharp, funny, and unexpectedly tender, the book has been optioned for an HBO series by the studio behind Ted Lasso and Scrubs.
Courtney Maum was born and raised in Greenwich, Maum attended Greenwich Academy for 14 years. She is the author of six books, including the New York Times Editors’ Choice novel Touch, the memoir The Year of the Horses, and the publishing guide Before and After the Book Deal. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Observer, and The Guardian. Her bestselling Substack newsletter, “Before and After the Book Deal,” reaches a community of 40,000 subscribers.
Dana Chivvis, also a Greenwich Academy alumni, is a reporter, producer, and editor for the Pulitzer Prize-winning public radio program This American Life. She co-hosted the New York Times podcast Serial: Season Four about Guantánamo and produced the first two seasons of Serial. She attended Tufts University, and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, lives in Brooklyn.
The event is a partnership between Dogwood Books & Gifts and Greenwich Academy. Courtney Maum is the author of Alan Opts Out, The Buzzy Novel Set in Belle Haven (optioned for an HBO series).
The talk will be moderated by Dana Chivvis, Producer of the podcast, This American Life on Tuesday, October 6, at 6:30 pm at Dogwood Books & Gifts (inside Christ Church Greenwich) at 254 East Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT
The fee is $40 includes book, wine and charcuterie. Tickets & Info: dogwoodbooksandgifts.com