Garth Stein

September 6, 2008 Reading and Book Signing

June 17, 2006 Workshop

Visit Garth's Web site

Books and a Play by Garth Stein

The Art of Racing in the Rain

Publication date:  May 13, 2008

Harper $23.95

Harper Paperbacks

$14.99

Starbuck's Book Pick for Summer, 2008

Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Book Award 2009

Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television extensively, and by listening very closely to the words of his master, Denny Swift, an up-and-coming race car driver.

Through Denny, Enzo has gained tremendous insight into the human condition, and he sees that life, like racing, isn't simply about going fast. Using the techniques needed on the race track, one can successfully navigate all of life's ordeals.

On the eve of his death, Enzo takes stock of his life, recalling all that he and his family have been through: the sacrifices Denny has made to succeed professionally; the unexpected loss of Eve, Denny's wife; the three-year battle over their daughter, Zoe, whose maternal grandparents pulled every string to gain custody. In the end, despite what he sees as his own limitations, Enzo comes through heroically to preserve the Swift family, holding in his heart the dream that Denny will become a racing champion with Zoe at his side. Having learned what it takes to be a compassionate and successful person, the wise canine can barely wait until his next lifetime, when he is sure he will return as a man.

A heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope, "The Art of Racing in the Rain" is a beautifully crafted and captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life . . . as only a dog could tell it.

See the book Web site

How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets

Shoho Press

$13.00

Winner of the 2006 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Associaiton Book Award

 "Captivating, moving and always observant, Garth Stein leads us through this deep-and often wrenching-family drama with confidence and deftness that sweep us in from the instant we meet unforgettable Evan. Whether laughing or wiping tears from our cheeks, page after page, all I can say is: What a wonderful, beautiful book; I will never forget it!"

--Ben Sherwood, author of The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud

"Garth Stein brings a distinctly wise and modern voice to a timeless tale of fathers and sons and the choices we all face. His characters are as real and moody as the wet streets and spotty charcoal skyline of the setting-present-day Seattle-and the story's resolution resonates with the lingering satisfaction of all great literature."

--Mark Lindquist, author of Never Mind Nirvana

Evan had a hit single. But that was eight years ago. Thirty-one now, he's drifting, playing in a local band and teaching middle-aged guys to coax music from an electric guitar.

Beset at a young age with a life-threatening form of epilepsy, he's kept his condition a secret, even from his bandmates. Only his family knows, and they don't know why he had the accident that caused it. Nor has he revealed his deepest secret: At 17, Evan got his high-school sweetheart pregnant. Then, her conservative parents whisked her out of Seattle and out of Evan's life.

Now, 14 years on, he experiences unplanned parenthood when he undertakes to raise the resentful teenage son he's never known. Evan has a second chance at fatherhood but possesses none of the qualities of a traditional father. He has to learn, just as his son has to learn to love him. Neither is easy.

Offbeat and disarming, How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets portrays a contemporary American family with unfailing honesty. Maybe being a father means being there for your child, no matter how belatedly you arrive.

Garth Stein, a former documentary filmmaker, was co-producer of the Academy Award-winning short film The Lunch Date and director of When Your Head's Not a Head, It's a Nut, which chronicles his sister's brain surgery for epilepsy.   

Raven Stole the Moon

Pocket Books

$6.99

When Jenna Rosen abandons her comfortable Seattle life to visit Wrangell, Alaska, it's a wrenching return to her past. Long ago the home of her Native American grandmother, Wrangell is located near the Thunder Bay resort, where Jenna's young son, Bobby, disappeared two years before. His body was never recovered, and Jenna is determined to lay to rest the aching mystery of his death. But the spectacular town provides little comfort beyond the steady and tender affections of Eddie, a local fisherman. And then whispers of ancient legends begin to suggest a frightening new possibility about Bobby's fate. Soon, Jenna must sift through the beliefs of her ancestors, the Tlingit--who still tell of powerful, menacing forces at work in the Alaskan wilderness. The beliefs are shared by Dr. David Livingstone, a Tlingit shaman, who warns Jenna about the danger of disturbing the legendary kushtaka--soul stealing predators that stalk a netherworld between land and sea, the living and the dead. But Jenna is desperate for answers, and she appeals to both Livingstone and Eddie to help her sort fact from myth, and face the unthinkable possibilities head-on. Armed with nothing but a mother's ferocious protective instincts, Jenna's quest for the truth about her son--and the strength of her beliefs--is about to pull her into a terrifying and life-changing abyss....

      Brother Jones

Play produced by John Liedgren and the Company of

Angels.  Debuted at the Lyric Hyperion Theater in

Los Angeles in 2005.