Author to host book signings for Detroit-based novel - Fox 2 News Headlines

Author Scott Lasser will be speaking about his Detroit-based novel, Say Nice Things About Detroit, throughout southeast Michigan from July 16 to July 19.

Lasser will be in Ann Arbor on July 16 at Nicola's Books at 7 p.m., in Bloomfield Hills on July 17 at the Temple Memorial Library at 7 p.m., in Okemos on July 18 at Schuler's at 7 p.m. and in West Bloomfield on July 19 at Barnes & Noble at 7 p.m.

The novel draws a gritty, complex portrait of Detroit and follows David Halpert, a grieving husband and father returning to Detroit 25 years after his high school graduation. It also addresses the complicated urban politics of the twenty-first century and an unexpected love story.

"To me this [Detroit] is home, and so I kept thinking of what it would be like to be home and write a book about it," said Lasser.

Real names and places around Detroit are used within the story. "It was important for me to be specific about the city and show that life is being lived here," Lasser said. "Go to New York, they don't necessarily think that."

Lasser has worked for the National Steel Corporation and Lehman Brothers. His nonfiction has appeared in magazines ranging from The New Yorker to Dealmaker Magazine. He is the author of three other novels: Battle Creek, All I Could Get, and The Year That Follows. Say Nice Things About Detroit has been optioned by Steve Carell's production company, Carousel/Warner Brothers, and for it, Lasser and his screen writing partner, Derek Green, have written a screen adaptation.

"People want to read about what's going on here," said Lasser, "particularly those who've come from here and know the way it is portrayed in the national media is really not the city."