Fairfield University professor Nicholas Rinaldi to offer three book readings of his new novel, "Between Two Rivers" | Press Releases

Image: Nicholas Rinaldi A former German fighter pilot, an Egyptian surgeon who specializes in sex changes, a woman who makes artful quilts that hang in museums, and the seemingly omniscient concierge who follows their stories, are just a few of the fascinating inhabitants of "Between Two Rivers," Nicholas Rinaldi's third novel.

Deftly interweaving the storylines of his characters, Rinaldi, a professor of English at Fairfield University, explores the tempo of city life through the diverse perspectives of people living in a condominium tower in lower Manhattan. He follows his characters until their lives are interrupted by the events of Sept. 11; and as the tragedy unfolds, his characters reach new levels of richness and complexity.

Nicholas Rinaldi will be promoting the book at three 7 p.m. readings in Connecticut this month. The first reading will be held Thursday, June 17, at Borders, 1499 Boston Post Road, Fairfield. On Wednesday, June 23, Rinaldi will present the book at RJ Julia Booksellers, 768 Boston Post Road, Madison. The next evening, June 24, he will be hosted by Barnes & Noble, 1076 Post Road East, Westport.

"This is a book about the interweaving of human lives," he said, "and the daily struggles that people have - and it is especially about courage and the capacity of the human spirit to survive and move forward in times of stress, crisis, and catastrophe."

Rinaldi earned his doctoral degree in literature from Fordham University in 1963. A former resident of Fairfield and Trumbull, he now resides in Bridgeport.

Rinaldi has written two other novels, "The Jukebox Queen of Malta" and "Bridge Fall Down," and three collections of poetry. Published in June by HarperCollins, "Between Two Rivers" has been enthusiastically greeted by early reviews in Elle magazine, The Economist, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus, BookPage, and elsewhere, with reviews and notices forthcoming in New York magazine, People, The Washington Post, and The New York Times.

A recent review in The Economist stated: "Mr. Rinaldi conjures a cosmopolitan New York that is violent and tender, and he stages some excellent set-pieces, particularly the closing chapters which dramatize the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. Above all he shows himself alive to the subtle bonds that develop between people who, by choice or by chance, happen to live together, and that make life, and novels like this one, more interesting."