Joe Meno and Nathan Larson in conversation with Johnny Temple

Either the world has ended or is about to end: Joe Meno’s Office Girl and Nathan Larson’s The Nervous System bring us to worlds pre and post-apocalyptic, populated by characters looking for some meaning in the most uncertain of times.

In Office Girl, it’s 1999, and art school dropout Odile and amateur sound artist Jack buck the coming end times by starting their own art movement.

In The Nervous System, Larson brings back our library-obsessed hero Dewey Decimal as he navigates a violence-blasted New York City with only his love for literature and firm grasp on book organizational principles to help him out.

Meno and Larson will read from their latest books, followed by a discussion and Q&A with Akashic publisher Johnny Temple.