Xochitl Gonzalez to Speak at Greenwich Library
We all read the book, and now hear from the author! Greenwich Library is excited to welcome Xochitl Gonzalez, author of 2022’s Greenwich Reads Together selection Olga Dies Dreaming on Tuesday, October 25 at 7:00 pm in the Berkley Theater.
Olga Dies Dreaming is a bold, thought-provoking novel about resilience and diaspora that presses readers to examine their ambitions and at what cost pursuing an American success story may come. The book debuted on The New York Times bestseller list after its release in January 2022. Months before it hit shelves, 20th Century Television ordered a series with Gonzalez attached as lead writer and co-executive producer.
The conversation with Gonzalez will be moderated by Alicia Menendez, anchor of MSNBC’s American Voices with Alicia Menendez. She is the creator and host of the podcast “Latina to Latina” and wrote the 2019 book The Likeability Trap. Menendez is a native of Union City, New Jersey; she earned a degree in Women’s Studies from Harvard.
Books will be available for sale and signing from Diane’s Books.
Olga Dies Dreaming Named the 2022 Greenwich Reads Together Book
Greenwich Library is thrilled to announce that the critically acclaimed novel Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez has been named the Greenwich Reads Together book selection for 2022.
Olga Dies Dreaming is a bold, thought-provoking debut novel about resilience and diaspora that presses readers to examine their ambitions and at what cost pursuing an American success story may come.
This year’s title was chosen by the GRT Selection Committee, led by Librarian Siobhan Schugmann. To be selected, the book must be of literary quality, reflective of universal issues, and capable of generating thought-provoking discussions. It must lend itself to engaging public programs and appeal to a diverse population. It also needs to be currently in print and available in large quantities and in multiple formats, including eBook, audiobook, and large print.
Boosted by rave reviews in the Times, The Washington Post, and Kirkus, which called Olga “atmospheric, intelligent, and well informed – an impressive debut,” Olga Dies Dreaming debuted on The New York Times bestseller list after its release in January 2022. Months before it hit shelves, 20th Century Television ordered a series with Gonzalez attached as lead writer and co-executive producer.
Gonzalez’s novel follows adult siblings Olga and Pedro “Prieto” Acevedo, two high-profile names in their hometown of New York. Prieto is a popular, closeted congressman representing their gentrifying Latinx neighborhood in Brooklyn, while Olga is the wedding planner for Manhattan’s power brokers. Despite their glittery public lives, things are far less rosy behind closed doors. For Olga, the pursuit of perfection has become her survival mechanism, but a new love interest forces her to confront the effects of long-held family secrets. Blanca, Olga and Prieto’s politically radical mother who abandoned her children years ago to advance revolutionary causes, has come barreling back into their lives.
Set against the backdrop of New York City in the months surrounding the most devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico’s history, Olga Dies Dreaming (the title is an allusion to the Pedro Pietri poem Puerto Rican Obituary, which contains the lines “Olga / died waiting for a five dollar raise” and “Olga / died dreaming about real jewelry”) is a story that examines political corruption, familial strife, and the very notion of the American dream ― all while asking what it really means to weather a storm.
Xochitl Gonzalez, a native Brooklynite, fictionalized parts of her own biography for this novel, including the concepts of an absent, activist mother and Gonzalez’s actual career as a high-end wedding planner. She recently earned an MFA from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was an Iowa Arts Fellow and recipient of the Michener-Copernicus Prize in Fiction. She won the 2019 Disquiet Literary Prize, and her work has been published in Vogue, The Cut, and Bustle. She is a contributor to The Atlantic, where she explores the gentrification of people and places in her weekly newsletter Brooklyn, Everywhere. A proud public school graduate, she earned a B.A. in Fine Arts from Brown University. She serves on the Board of the Lower East Side Girls Club.
Olga Dies Dreaming is available in eBook format, along with audiobook and print copies. For additional suggested titles for younger readers, please visit greenwichreadstogether.org. While there, find links to author interviews, book discussion guides, and reviews.
Greenwich Reads Together is made possible through the support of The Friends of Greenwich Library.
The 2022 Selection Committee was led by Librarians Siobhan Schugmann and Joanne Gaither and included Amy Fleishman, Community Volunteer; Daisy Florin, Community Volunteer; Renee Ketcham, Alliance Francaise, and the Byram Shubert Library International Book Club; Archana Makam, Community Volunteer; Kathy McCormack, Perrot Memorial Library Board President; Hollister Sturges, Retired Men’s Association of Greenwich; Marilynn Ribadeneira, Library Technical Assistant; Stephen Schmidt, Librarian; and Carolyn Surgent, Friends of Greenwich Library.
GRT’s founding organizations include Greenwich Library, Greenwich Alliance for Education, Greenwich Arts Council, Greenwich Historical Society, Greenwich Pen Women and the Greenwich Public and Independent Schools, Perrot Memorial Library, and Retired Men’s Association of Greenwich.
The previous Greenwich Reads Together selections include Deacon King Kong (2021), Just Mercy and Mountains Beyond Mountains (2020), Fahrenheit 451 (2019), Code Girls (2018), News of the World (2017), Station Eleven (2016), Americanah (2015), The Boys in the Boat (2014), When the Emperor Was Divine (2013), Zeitoun (2012), and The Book Thief (2011).
With 1,800 programs and events per year, Greenwich Library seeks to serve as a cultural and intellectual pillar of the community. Take advantage of in-person and online training and enrichment opportunities at the Libraries, including bestselling and local authors, conversations with thought leaders, world-class musicians, dancers, and performers, and timely and age-appropriate technology, science, genealogy, writing, and health workshops. Find an event on the Library’s online calendar.
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