Spotty Dog – Books & Ale

Saturday, October 24th 7:00pm

Author Event! Natalie Adler

Reading from her acclaimed new novel, Waiting on a Friend, followed by conversation with local Author Dave King.

Author Natalie Adler will read from her acclaimed new novel, Waiting on a Friend, followed by conversation with local Author Dave King.

Waiting on a Friend was named a MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR by Oprah Daily, Time, Debutiful, Lit Hub, and Publishers Lunch and described as “[A] powerhouse debut . . . This dazzles like a mirror ball,” by Publishers Weekly, awarding it a starred
review.

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New York City, East Village, 1984. A young woman with the power to see the ghosts of her friends is haunted by the one who refuses to return—a dazzling, big-hearted debut of friendship and community during a time of devastation and defiance.

Both heartbreaking and healing, tragic and triumphant, Waiting on a Friend is a magical retelling of queer history and a celebration of youth and camaraderie. With pathos and humor, empathy and an edge, Natalie Adler freshly reimagines the past for a new generation, reclaiming the spirit of resistance and determination that would become one of the era’s defining legacies.

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Natalie Adler has an MFA in Fiction from Brooklyn College and a PhD in Comparative Literature from Brown University. She was a Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellow at the Center for Fiction. She is an editor at Lux magazine and an instructor at Sackett Street Writers. She is from New Jersey and lives in New York City.

Dave King is the author of the novel The Ha-Ha, which was named one of the best books of 2005 by The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. King’s poetry has appeared in The Paris Review, among other venues, his fiction in Fence, and his criticism in The Village Voice. Among other awards, King is a Fellow in Literature of the American Academy in Rome.

Saturday, November 7th 7:00pm

Author Event! Amra Brooks with L Scully

The usual amazing lineup from Dopamine Books.

AMRA BROOKS
was born and raised in California. Her poetic memoir Mother Is a Place was released on September 15, 2026 with Dopamine Books. Her novella California was published by Teenage Teardrops in 2008. Her prose, poetry, and art writing has appeared in Artforum, Inventory, Khôra, Printeresting, index, This Long Century, the LA Weekly, and many other publications. She is currently a Professor and the director of the Creative Writing Program at Stonehill College where she curates the Raymo Literary Series. She lives with her family in Providence, RI. You can read more about her work here: https://www.amra-brooks.com/

Mother is a Place, details one girl’s dogged search for safety and care, a pursuit that brings her from idyllic literary studies to nannying for an iconic, out-of-control rock star, from her mysteriously collapsing body to the defiant tenderness of motherhood. Says Girlhood author Melissa Febos, Mother Is a Place is “a beautiful and finely told story of becoming; this memoir is both map and guide—to bearing what we are given, the path to home, and all that is possible to build ourselves.”

‘A rocking, rolling, revolutionary story that breaks previous mother tropes open to reveal a mind-blowing truth’ – –Lidia Yuknavitch, bestselling author of The Chronology of Water

‘Straightforward yet surreal, punk yet soft, kinetic yet somehow at peace, Mother Is a Place is an engrossing, passionate memoir lush with hard-earned wisdom.’

-Maggie Nelson, author of The Argonauts

‘This is the kind of book you just drink.’ -Eileen Myles, poet, novelist, author of Chelsea Girls

‘Brooks has written a genuine, compelling bildungsroman, an unforgettable story. It’s a wonderful book.’- Lynne Tillman, author of Men and Apparitions and Mothercare

‘Brooks writes with a clear, steady lyricism about what happens when children are asked to take on the work of adults and how we slowly build a self, and a family, that can finally hold us.’ -Alex Auder, author of Don’t Call Me Home

‘Amra’s voice and words come like the breathy whisper of a good witch, instantly prophetic and relatable.’ -Roddy Bottom, author of The Royal We

Praise for California:

L SCULLY
L SCULLY (they/them) is a queer writer and double Capricorn currently based in Boston. They are the co-founder of and prose editor at Stone of Madness Presss.

Self Romancing
In a tonal mash-up of Jenny Holzer’s Truisms, confessional poetry, and fortune telling, Self-Romancing draws you into the amorous and obsessive inner life of an unnamed romantic. Relatable and snarky, heartfelt and horny, L Scully fortifies irony with vulnerability, bringing readers into a narrative as intimate as slumber parties and ordinary as Trader Joe’s. Bursting with the giddy charm of the everyday, Self-Romancing plays with form, turning a book into a crush, a crank call, a manifesto.

DOPAMINE is a queer literary organization that aims to elevate LGBTQI+ writing and writers through publishing, reading series, literary tours, and workshops.MORE