Robert Stone

If you’re a fan of Robert Stone’s, but always found him a bit too long in the reading, know that his most recent novel, Bay of Souls, is his shortest. That doesn’t mean it’ll be any less dense than, say, A Flag for Sunrise or Damascus Gate. In fact, Stone is one of those writers we like best in a bookstore reading; a legend in his time, and a member of the last generation of great literary novelists with social and political obsessions (see Ken Kesey, Peter Matthiessen), whose novels can feel a little like doing homework. It’s enough to take him in as a one-off podium appearance; you have our permission. Ruminator, (651) 699-0587, www.ruminator.com