“The Fantasy of Reality,” featuring Joseph Earl Thomas, Thursday, December 18 @ 6pm: Hermitage Fellow Joseph Earl Thomas is a writer who straddles form, from memoir and nonfiction to fiction and poetry. He is celebrated for his distinctive style that often pushes expectations, and his work often plays with the boundaries between fantasy and reality. His memoir Sink was hailed as “extraordinary” by The New York Times. Past Hermitage Fellow and National Book Award winner Justin Torres said Thomas’ novel God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer “reads like direct communication from the soul.” Join us as this acclaimed author discusses and shares excerpts from new and published work. Presented in partnership with Bookstore1. Estimated running time: 60 minutes. Venue: Bookstore1 (Sarasota), 117 S. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota, FL 34236.