Book Pre-Launch: ‘Heaven is a Place on Earth’ by Adrian Shirk, with music by Mikey Rose & The Dumb Americans
Book Pre-Launch: ‘Heaven is a Place on Earth’ by Adrian Shirk, with music by Mikey Rose & The Dumb Americans
Sat, Feb 12, 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm PERFORMANCE, READING, LIVE MUSIC
Heaven is a Place on Earth: Searching for an American Utopia
book pre-release party
with a reading by Adrian Shirk
and a special performance from Mikey Rose & The Dumb Americans
On Saturday, Feb 12th, please join Adrian Shirk and friends to celebrate the release of her new book Heaven is a Place on Earth: Searching for an American Utopia. This hybrid memoir is an exploration of American ideas of utopia through the lens of one millennial’s quest to live a more communal life under late-stage capitalism. Told in a series of essays that balance autobiography with fieldwork, Heaven Is a Place on Earth is an idiosyncratic study of American utopian experiments—ranging from the Shakers to the radical faerie communes of Short Mountain to the Bronx rebuilding movement.
Following the readings will be a performance by Mikey Rose & The Dumb Americans, a multi-genre musical ensemble.
Adrian Shirk is the author of And Your Daughters Shall Prophecy (Counterpoint Press), a hybrid-memoir exploring American women prophets and mystics, named an NPR ‘Best Book’ of 2017. Her odyssey of American utopian experiments Heaven Is a Place on Earth is out March 2022. Shirk was raised in Portland, Oregon, and has since lived in New York and Wyoming. She’s a frequent contributor to Catapult, and her essays have appeared in The Atlantic, among others. She teaches in Pratt Institute’s BFA Creative Writing Program, and lives at The Mutual Aid Society in the Catskill mountains.
Mikey Rose is a professional amateur, songwriter, musician, playwright and director, and the host of the monthly cabaret Dumb American Amateur Hour at the Starr Barr in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Mikey Rose & The Dumb Americans is a whimsical blending of all styles of music, theater and storytelling, he hopes to create a new communal sound, bringing folks together onstage and off. He is a 2020 Recipient of the ASCAP Foundation Frederick Loewe Scholarship, and a recent graduate of the MFA Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program at NYU TISCH.
Pre-order a copy of the book! Copies may or may not be available at the event itself, due to national printing supply chain disruptions. PRE-ORDER Heaven is a Place on Earth ($26)
Seating is limited. Please reserve your spot by entering your name and email below (we will not share your email address).
