WATCH: Keith Gessen on the Profound (and Often Maddening) Experience of Being a Dad

“I was not prepared to be a father—this much I knew.” As acclaimed author of A Terrible Country and founding editor of n+1 Magazine Keith Gessen neared 40, he hadn’t given much thought to the idea of being a father—but with the birth of his son Raffi one Tuesday night in early June, that distant idea came careening into view.

In Raising Raffi, written over the first five years of Raffi’s life, Gessen examines the profound, overwhelming, often maddening experience of being a dad and gives us an unsparing, loving account of fatherhood and the surprising, magical, and maddening turns of a child’s early years.

Greenlight welcomes Gessen to our Fort Greene events program in conversation with author and journalist Jessica Grose for an evening exploring how raising a child can show us what it means to invent the world anew.

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Founded in October 2009 by Rebecca Fitting and Jessica Stockton Bagnulo, Greenlight Bookstore is an independent bookstore in Brooklyn, New York. Combining the best traditions of the neighborhood bookstore with carefully curated, community-minded events, Greenlight has earned a reputation as a literary destination. Greenlight has continued to serve its community during the COVID-19 pandemic with a diverse array of virtual events, and has been inspired by the movements for racial justice across the country to engage in the work of becoming a more anti-racist company. Learn more at greenlightbookstore.com or check them out @greenlightbklyn.