The Origin of Species

Bridging the Digital Divide

Ricci Website Earns First Comment on Origin of Species

Almost three years after Nino Ricci’s novel The Origin of Species was first published, its webpage has finally garnered its first reader comment.

“I am at a point in this book where I am not sure I want to finish reading it,” wrote Linda Anderson Stewart, going on to describe the book as “one of the most depressing ” she had read in a long time.

Ricci was ecstatic when the comment showed up on his website dashboard.

“Never mind the Governor General’s Award, never mind the Order of Canada. As far as I’m concerned, this is what counts. Contact. Bridging the digital divide.”

Ricci says he hopes Ms. Anderson Stewart’s comment will spur other readers to post their opinions of his novel.

“I am no Polly Anna,” Ms. Anderson Stewart ended her post, “but I don’t find any of these characters worth reading about, other than to confirm all my worst opinions of human nature.”

IFOA @ CNE

Harbourfront’s International Festival of Authors puts the muse back in amusement park as it travels to the Canadian National Exhibition. See Nino and fellow author Steven Heighton brave death-defying leaps of imagination and suspensions of disbelief as they read from their recent works. 3 PM Thursday, September 2nd, 2010 at the CNE’s Direct Energy Centre. Stick around until 5:30 and catch Linwood Barclay and Louise Penny as well. Hosted by Bert Archer.

Sunshine Coast

The Festival of the Written Arts in Sechelt, B.C. is Canada’s longest running summer gathering of Canadian writers and readers and one of the best venues for getting up close and personal with writers who are often so dazzled by the fresh air and sunshine that they forget to hide out in the hospitality suite. This year’s participants include Bonnie Burnard, Ian Brown, and Brian Brett, and that’s just the Bs. Further up the alphabet you’ll find, among others, Karen Connelly, Lawrence Hill, Jack Hodgins, Annabel Lyon, Shani Mootoo, Joan Thomas, and Jack Whyte.

Come to the festival writers love, and not just because of the stunning setting, the huge audiences, the great hosting, the stomach-churning ride up from Vancouver in a six-seater seaplane, or the chance for a five-star meal at the nearby Blue Heron Inn courtesy of a well-heeled patron of the arts. (Nino is currently taking offers.) What they love above all is that they get a whole hour on stage, all to themselves, to do WHATEVER THEY WANT. Talk about trust.

Nino’s hour begins at 8:30 PM on Friday, August 13th, in the Rockwood Centre (though there is no telling where it will end).

Harvard Book Store

Harvard Book Store hosts Nino Ricci on the publication of the Other Press edition of The Origin of Species as part of its Spring Author Event Series. Come watch Nino hobnob with Harvard types and talk at excessive length about the Darwinian underpinnings of his novel. 7 PM on Monday, 10 May at Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge. Tel. 617.661.1424.

Nino Ricci launches U.S. edition of The Origin of Species in New York

McNally Jackson Books of New York (52 Prince St., between Lafayette & Mulberry; tel. 212.274.1160) hosts the launch of the Other Press edition of The Origin of Species. 7 PM on Wednesday, April 14th, 2010. There will be a reading from the novel, hopefully mercifully brief.

Get more information from McNally Jackson or check out the listing in Time Out.

Boston Athenaeum

Nino Ricci speaks about his novel The Origin of Species at the storied Boston Athenaeum, 10 1/2 Beacon St., Boston, from 12 to 1 PM.

Founded in 1807 under the motto Literarum fructus dulces, sweet are the fruits of letters, the Boston Athenaeum is located in historic Beacon Hill just off the Boston Common. Nino Ricci’s lecture is open to the public.

Welcome to ninoricci.com 2.0

YouTube, step aside: Welcome to the new, improved Nino Ricci web site. You’ll find loads of new features, including wikis, widgets, caches, cookies, galleries, feed readers, hotlinks, applets, spiders, and MIMEs. Oh—and for the more traditional set, we’ve also included good old-fashioned content.

Ninoricci.com 2.0 brings interactive web culture to a new level. Take a few moments to look around, then send us your comments. Our smartbots are standing by to exploit them for marketing purposes.

Just so you know, this web site is running off a WordPress premium theme for authors designed by Strange Duck Media.

U. S. publication of The Origin of Species set for April 2010

Nino Ricci’s award-winning novel The Origin of Species is on track for an April 6th publication date in the U.S., just in time for the 151st anniversary of the publication of the similarly titled volume by Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.

“But mainly, of course, I just want to be loved.” – Nino Ricci

Darwin’s book revolutionized our understanding of the origins of life and remains perhaps one of history’s most influential texts. Ricci’s novel, on the other hand, despite good reviews and a handful of awards, has yet to demonstrate any appreciable impact on the course of human thought.

Asked if he thought his novel would generate a backlash in a country where Darwin’s theories are still considered controversial, Ricci said, “I certainly hope so. I mean, you have to admit that book burnings and that sort of thing can be good for sales. But mainly, of course, I just want to be loved.”

In conjunction with the U.S. publication, Ricci will be setting out on a cross-country tour that will take him to Boston, Princeton, New York, and several small religious bookstores in the American Bible Belt.

Ricci Website Earns First Comment on Origin of Species

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