In The Flamethrowers, Kushner skillfully navigates huge swaths of politics and history, intimately intersecting the vivid lives of her characters with the external reality in which they move. At the novel’s fulcrum is Reno, a young Nevadan who moves to New York with the vague idea of making it in the art world and finds herself jarred between the chaos of 1970s New York and Italy. All the while, Kushner fearlessly tackles the larger questions, asking what society can afford of its individuals – and where art fits in with everything else. Join us for what promises to be a lively discussion of this dynamic novel.