EUGENE–Frederick Busch, award-winning author of 23 books including the bestseller, "Girls," and his latest novel, "The Night Inspector," will make a rare West Coast visit on Wednesday, April 11, to read from his work at the University of Oregon.

The free public reading, part of the Creative Writing Program’s Reading Series, will begin at
8 p.m. in the Browsing Room of the Knight Library, 1501 Kincaid St. It is made possible through the generous support of the UO College of Arts and Sciences. A book signing will follow.

Busch, well known as a master craftsman of fiction and nonfiction, is the Fairchild Professor of Literature at Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y.

He was honored by an award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters for his fiction. In addition, his collection of stories, "The Children in the Woods," was a finalist for the 1995 PEN/Faulkner Award, and he has won the PEN/Malamud Award for distinction in the short story.

"The Night Inspector," Busch’s latest novel, is set in New York City in 1867. It deftly describes the painfully vivid memories and premonitions experienced by its narrator, Civil War casualty William Bartholomew.

A review of the book in the Kirkus Review states that "Bartholomew is a brilliantly imagined character, and the book vibrates with beautifully realized (mostly nocturnal) period scenes."

Other reviewers have been equally as enthusiastic about the book.

The Boston Sunday Globe said "The Night Inspector" is "flawlessly plotted and philosophically rich … not a merely effective novel, but an essential one." The Wall Street Journal stated that "Out of a rancid stew of vice and misery, Mr. Busch has created a sublimely dark work of almost unbearable beauty."

The New York Times Book Review stated that "The Night Inspector" is "a marvelously dark-hued story by a master craftsman, and watching mastery at work provides at least part of the pleasure of reading it."

For more information, call the Creative Writing Program, (541) 346-0544.

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