Heralded as “a huge literary talent” by Karl Ove Knausgaard, Megan Nolan’s debut, Acts of Desperation, is a fierce and obsessive anti-romance about love addiction and what it does to us. In the first scene of this intensely compelling novel, the unnamed narrator meets a magnetic writer and falls completely under his spell. After a brief, all-consuming romance he abruptly rejects her, sending her into a tailspin of jealous obsession and longing. If he ever comes back to her, she resolves to hang onto him and his love at all costs, even if it destroys her…Part breathless confession, part lucid critique, Acts of Desperation renders a consciousness split between rebellion and submission, between escaping degradation and eroticizing it, between loving and being lovable. With unsettling, electric precision, Nolan dissects one of life’s most elusive mysteries: Why do we want what we want, and how do we want it?

Megan Nolan talks  with Sarah Boesveld about Acts of Desperation and the interlinked nature of desire and power where love can open dark parts of us we never knew existed.

About this event’s guests:
Megan Nolan
Sarah Boesveld

Photo of author courtesy of Lynn Rothwell.

This event is part of TPL’s Summer Books series. Check out the webpage for the entire Summer Books Series schedule.

Toronto Public Library is committed to accessibility. Please call or email us if you are Deaf or have a disability and would like to request accommodation to participate in this program. Please let us know as far in advance as possible and we will do our best to meet your request. At least three weeks’ notice is preferred. Phone 416-393-7099 or email accessibleservices@tpl.ca

Megan Nolan: Acts of Desperation