Description
Join us on Thursday, June 13 at 6 p.m. for the Vancouver launch of Thorn Tree, a beautifully wrought novel by Max Ludington on the aftershocks of the heady but dangerous late 1960s and the relationship between trauma and the creative impulse.
Now in his late-sixties, Daniel lives in quiet anonymity in a converted guest cottage in the Hollywood Hills. A legendary artist, he’s known for one seminal work — Thorn Tree — a hulking, welded, scrap metal sculpture that he built in the Mojave desert in the 1970s. The work emerged from tragedy, but building it kept Daniel alive and catapulted him to brief, reluctant fame in the art world.
Daniel is neighbors with Celia, a charismatic but fragile actress. She too experienced youthful fame, hers in a popular television series, but saw her life nearly collapse after a series of bad decisions. Now, a new movie with a notorious director might reignite her career.
A single mother, Celia leaves her young son Dean for weeks at a time with her father, Jack, who stays at her house while she’s on location. Jack and Daniel strike up a tentative friendship as Dean takes to visiting Daniel’s cottage — but something about Jack seems off. Discomfiting, strangely intimate, with flashes of anger balanced by an almost philosophical bent, Jack is not the harmless grandparent he pretends to be.
Weaving the idealism and the darkness of the late 1960s, the glossy surfaces of Los Angeles celebrity today, and thrumming with the sound of the Grateful Dead, the mania of Charles Manson and other cults, and the secrets that both Jack and Daniel have harboured for 50 years, Thorn Tree is an utterly-compelling novel.
At this event, author Max Ludington will be in conversation with actor, writer and director Bill Marchant. This event is free, but please reserve your spot on our Eventbrite, as capacity is limited. Books will be on hand for purchase and signing.
About the author:
Max Ludington’s first novel, Tiger in a Trance, was a New York Times Notable book, and his fiction has appeared in Tin House, Meridian, HOW Journal, Outerbridge, and On the Rocks: the KGB Bar Fiction Reader. He lives in Brooklyn, New York and teaches in the writing department at Pratt Institute.
About the moderator:
Bill Marchant is a Vancouver based actor, writer and director. He’s best known for his work in film and television including the film Corner Office and CBC’s Strange Empire. An award-winning playwright, memorable productions include Pot Kettle Black and Clown Elections. He currently serves as Creative Specialist at Vancouver Film School where he has taught for the last 27 years.
More about Upstart & Crow:
Located on Granville Island, Upstart & Crow is a literary arts studio for curious readers and creative storytellers alike. We are international in our outlook, and local in our sensibilities. We create opportunities to surface new talent and champion bold ideas through events, workshops, literary launches, unique partnerships — and yes, we also sell books!
Health precautions:
We want this event to be fun and safe. Masks are welcome, though we won’t enforce them. We hope that folks who come will be vaccinated and boosted and will stay home if they feel ill.
Accessibility:
The main studio of our shop is accessible for folks with mobility aids. There is a washroom on the main floor available for attendees.
Questions: hello@upstartandcrow.com.

Thorn Tree
“Thorn Tree is a riotous, tragic, sublimely written rampage through the lingering dregs of 1960’s cults and crimes.” — Jennifer Egan, author of A Visit from the Goon Squad and The Candy House