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One Author, One Kirkwood

One Author, One Kirkwood is a yearly community read for the people throughout our St. Louis community. All events are free and open to the public.

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Image is the logo for One Author, One Kirkwood. The image is a red circle with a white center. Inside the center is an outline of the Kirkwood Public Library building over an open book. Under the book the text reads, "Discover More." In the red outer circle there is white text that follows along the top of the circle that reads, "One Author, One Kirkwood." and along the bottom of the circle it reads, "Kirkwood Public Library."
A picture of author Steven Rowley in a dark navy sweater with a light blue button up shirt underneath. His arms are folded across his chest and he's smiling and looking up to the left. He has on clear glasses and a beard. He is bald. He is on a brown blurred background.

Steven Rowley

https://www.stevenrowley.com

Steven Rowley is the New York Times bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus, a Washington Post Notable Book of 2016, The Editor, named by NPR as one of the Best Books of 2019, The Guncle, a Goodreads Choice Awards finalist for 2021 Novel of the Year and winner of the 22nd Thurber Prize for American Humor, and The Celebrants, a TODAY Show Read With Jenna Book Club pick. His fiction has been published in twenty languages. All of his books are in development for feature film or television adaptation.

Originally from Portland, Maine, he is a graduate of Emerson College and currently resides in Palm Springs with his husband, the writer Byron Lane, and two rescue dogs. (bio courtesy of the author website)

Uplifting  Books for Fans of Ted Lasso (The Guncle) 

“I Had To Put It Down A Few Times”: 29 Of The Most Emotionally-Charged Books Ever, According To Voracious Readers (Lily & The Octopus)

Steven Rowley on the KPL Podcast 2021

Steven Rowley on the KPL Podcast 2023

Steven Rowley on the KPL Podcast 2024

Find Steven Rowley’s Books in our Catalog

We also have book club kits available for checkout to your book club!

Steven Rowley – Book Club Kits

Lily & the Octopus (2016)

Book cover of Lily & The Octopus. The cover is light blue and has the words "Lily and the Octopus" in serif font. Below that is a little brown dachshund with "A novel" written in white on it. Below that is the author's name in dark blue.

Ted—a gay, single, struggling writer is stuck: unable to open himself up to intimacy except through the steadfast companionship of Lily, his elderly dachshund. When Lily’s health is compromised, Ted vows to save her by any means necessary. By turns hilarious and poignant, an adventure with spins into magic realism and beautifully evoked truths of loss and longing, Lily and the Octopus reminds us how it feels to love fiercely, how difficult it can be to let go, and how the fight for those we love is the greatest fight of all.

A National Bestseller, An Indie Next Pick, A Library Reads Pick, A Barnes & Noble Best Book of the Month, A Washington Post Notable Book of 2016, Published in twenty languages

The Guncle (2021)

On a yellow background there is a drawn palm tree in the upper right hand corner. In pink and blue letters it says "The Guncle". There is a drawn white house in the background and three people and a dog walk in front of a pool with their reflections. The first is a ma with brown hair in a green caftan holding a martini, the next a boy in brown shorts with a white shirt and a blue cap holding an ice cream cone, a girl is third with a green shirt and blue shorts and brown hair, she is holding a book. The final is a dog with a red bandana.

Patrick O’Hara has always loved his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant — from a safe distance. His Palm Springs home and reclusive lifestyle aren’t exactly welcoming to children. But when tragedy strikes, Patrick finds himself suddenly taking on the role of primary guardian.

Patrick has no idea what to expect, having spent years barely holding on after the loss of his own great love and managing a stalled career. He regrets his decision to take them in, until he starts to recognize that his outsize lifestyle and unusual life wisdom could bring about a season of healing that redefines their understanding of family, and finally lead Patrick back to himself.

WINNER of the Thurber Prize for American Humor, USA Today Bestseller, Wall Street Journal Bestseller, A Library Reads Pick, A PEOPLE Magazine Best Book of the Week, A Washington Post Feel Good Book for Summer, One of NPR’s Books We Love 2021, A Goodreads Choice Award Finalist

The Guncle Abroad (2024)

A pink sky with light pink clouds. There are hand drawn blue mountains in the background with a giant yellow hotel in front. There is blue water and a brown gondola. There are three people in the boat. A girl with green shirt and lighter green pants and a yellow hat. A man with a pink polka dot shirt and blue pants and a blue bandana with brown hair holding a wine glass, and a boy in a blue shirt with darker blue shorts and a green hat. Above them in Green and pink letters is, "The Guncle Abroad" and below them in dark blue writing is "steven rowley."

Patrick O’Hara is back. It’s been five years since his summer as his niece Maisie and nephew Grant’s caretaker after their mother’s passing. Patrick feels on top of the world… professionally. Some things have taken a back seat. Looking down both barrels at fifty, Patrick is single again after breaking things off with Emory. But at least he has a family to lean on. Until that family needs to again lean on him. 

When his brother Greg announces he’s getting remarried in Italy, Maisie and Grant are not thrilled and Patrick feels drawn to take them back under his wing. As they travel through Europe on their way to the wedding, Patrick tries his best to help them understand love, much as he once helped them comprehend grief. But in Italy, Patrick is overextended managing a groom with cold feet, his sister Clara’s flirting with guests left and right, a growing rivalry with the kids’ alluring soon to be launt (lesbian aunt), and two anxious kids trying desperately to adjust to a new normal all culminating in a disastrous rehearsal dinner. Can Patrick save the day? 

An Indie Next Pick, A Library Reads Hall of Fame Pick, An Instant USA Today Bestseller

Upcoming One Author Events

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The Editor (2019)

Author name at the top in white text. Orange background with a drawing of a woman with brown hair and big black sunglasses. She is wearing pearls and a blue shirt. She has pink lipstick on and one earring showing behind her hair. Across her chest are the words "The Editor" in white.

After years of struggling as a writer in 1990s New York City, James Smale finally gets his big break when his novel sells to an editor at a major publishing house: none other than Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Jackie, or Mrs. Onassis as she’s known in the office, has fallen in love with James’s candidly autobiographical novel, one that exposes his own dysfunctional family. But when the book’s forthcoming publication threatens to unravel already fragile relationships, both within his family and with his partner, James finds that he can’t finish the manuscript.

Jackie and James develop an unexpected friendship, and she pushes him to write an authentic ending, encouraging him to head home to confront the truth about his relationship with his mother. But when a long-held family secret is revealed, he realizes his editor may have had a larger plan that goes beyond the page.

A National Bestseller, An Indie Next Pick, One of NPR’s Best Books of 2019, One of Esquire Magazine’s Best Books of 2019, Cosmopolitan’s Best Books of April

The Celebrants (2023)

An Orange background with light orange clouds. A raised house on some cliffs over looks blue waters and dark green rocks. There are five people standing on the balcony next to three potted plants. The first is a woman in a red dress, the next a black haired woman in a purple jacket, white shirt, and jeans. A man with brown hair in a green shirt and brown pants. A man with black hair and a white shirt and jeans. And finally a man with a red shirt, brown hair, and green pants holding out a glass and cheersing. At the top in white text is reads "The Celebrants" at the bottom is says, "Steven Rowley" in white text and then "bestselling author of the Guncle" in yellow text.

It’s been a minute—or five years—since Jordan Vargas last saw his college friends, and twenty-eight years since their graduation from Berkeley when their adult lives officially began. Now Jordan, Jordy, Naomi, Craig, and Marielle find themselves at the brink of a new decade, with all the responsibilities and obligations of adulthood, yet no closer to having their lives figured out. That’s not for a lack of trying. Over the years they reunited periodically in Big Sur to honor a decades old pact to throw each other living “funerals,” celebrations to remind themselves that life is worth living—and living well.

But this reunion is different. They’re not gathered as they had to bolster Marielle as her marriage crumbled, to lift Naomi after her parents died, or to intervene when Craig plead guilty to art fraud. Jordan is sitting on a secret that will upend their pact, as each friend is forced to weigh their middle-aged lives against the idealistic dreams of youth.

An Instant NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, A TODAY Show Read With Jenna Book Club Pick, An Indie Next Pick, A Library Reads Hall of Fame Pick, An EW Best New Book for Spring, A Washington Post Noteworthy Book for May

Past Years’ Selections

2025 – Steven Rowley Lily & The Octopus, The Celebrants, The Guncle, The Guncle Abroad

2024 – Brenda Slocumb The Violin Conspiracy and Symphony of Secrets

2023 – Morgan Talty Night of the Living Rez

2022 – Diana Abu-Jaber Fencing with the King and Life without a Recipe

2021 – Brit Bennett The Vanishing Half and The Mothers

Past Years’ Selections

2020 – Lisa See The Island of Sea Women, China Dolls, and On Gold Mountain

2019 – Chris Bohjalian The Flight Attendant, The Sandcastle Girls, and Buffalo Soldier

2018- Stephanie Powell Watts No One Is Coming to Save Us

2017- Ariel Lawhon Flight of Dreams

2016- Laura McHugh Arrowood and Curtis Sittenfeld Eligible

Past Years’ Selections

2015- Robin Sloan Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore

2014- Alex George A Good American

2013- Joseph Schuster The Might Have Been

2012- Timothy Schaffert The Coffins of Little Hope

Event Partners

Supported by the Edward Chase Garvey Memorial Foundation

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