Two novelists read from acclaimed recent works, both of which deal with the tenuous borderline between fiction and life.

In her third novel The Keep (Anchor), Jennifer Egan wraps a fantastical gothic tale in a family drama, then incorporates both into a prison story and finally back into a (different) family drama. If that sounds a little too meta-fictional for your taste, rest assured that Egan keeps the dramatic narrative firmly grounded in reality. As The New York Times put it: “Egan sustains an awareness that the text is being manipulated by its author, while at the same time delivering character and story with perfect and passionate conviction. Very few writers, of our time or any other, have been able to bring that combination off.”

Hailed as one of the best literary debuts in years, Marisha Pessl’s Special Topics In Calamity Physics (Penguin Group) landed on numerous bestseller lists last summer and earned its young author comparisons to Jonathan Safran Foer and Zadie Smith. Entertainment Weekly described the book as a “frisky, smarty-pants debut … [an] escapist extravaganza packed with literary and pop culture allusions, mischievous characterizations, erotic intrigue, murders, and unstoppable narrative energy.”

A discussion with both authors moderated by Laura Miller, critic for Salon & The New York Times, follows the readings.