Douglas Bauer will read from his new book from University of Iowa Press, What Happens Next? Matters of Life and Death, at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, in a free reading at Prairie Lights Books in downtown Iowa City. The reading also will be streamed live on the University of Iowa Writing University website.

The essays in this book ask: What is life about but the continuous posing of the questions what happens next, and what do we make of it when it arrives? These essays spiral around his and his parents’ lives, the meals they ate, the work and rewards and regrets that defined them, and the inevitable betrayal by their bodies as they aged.

Bauer is the author of Prairie City, Iowa, The Stuff of Fiction, Dexterity, The Very Air, and The Book of Famous Iowans. He lives in Boston and teaches literature at Bennington College.

Acclaimed novelist Andre Dubus III says, “What Happens Next? Matters of Life and Death is a masterful, soul-nourishing work, and I simply cannot recommend it highly enough.”

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all UI-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to attend this reading, call Jan Weissmiller at Prairie Lights in advance at 319-337-2681.

For a UI arts calendar and details about upcoming events visit the Arts Iowa website.