Memphis author and Burke’s Book Store co-owner Corey Mesler is celebrating two new novels that explore very different territory: the whimsical mythology of Memphis filmmaking and the deeply personal experience of living with agoraphobia. On Thursday, November 12th, Mesler will host a reading and book signing at Burke’s for Memphis Movie Two: The Recrudescence of Eric Warberg and Happy Happy.
The sequel to Mesler’s earlier Memphis Movie, Memphis Movie Two follows a pair of young filmmakers embarking on an improbable adventure to make their first movie. Along the way, readers can expect familiar faces, new characters, ghosts, movie stars, romance, and plenty of Memphis lore. Inspired in part by Mesler’s own experience writing short films for the Indie Memphis Film Festival, the novel is also a love letter to the city he has called home since he was 5.
“Memphis, a city with a deep mythology, is the music running underneath the surface of the novel,” Mesler says. “It’s like the soundtrack to the movie being made by the characters in the story.”
The second novel, Happy Happy, takes a more introspective turn. Originally conceived as a memoir, the book draws on Mesler’s painful personal experience with agoraphobia. When revisiting those memories became too emotionally and physically difficult, he turned to fiction, weaving fantasy into the story of Col Merrysee, a man who finds love, builds a family, and embraces a happy life before being confronted by sudden, debilitating fear in public spaces. “It’s a very painful book,” Mesler says. “If I tell this story, I will let fantasy do it.”
The novel is dedicated to Mesler’s former therapist, Steve Blumberg, who helped him navigate those difficult years, and his wife, Cheryl, whom he credits as an unwavering source of support.
With 24 novels and books of short stories and 37 poetry collections to his name, Mesler continues to find inspiration in creating characters and discovering the worlds they inhabit. He also draws inspiration from Burke’s, the historic independent bookstore he operates with Cheryl.
The November 12th event runs from 5:30 to 7 p.m., with the reading beginning at 6 p.m. Attendees can meet Mesler, hear selections from both novels, and have their books signed.
READING AND BOOK SIGNING WITH COREY MESLER, BURKE’S BOOK STORE, 936 S. COOPER ST., THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 5:30-7 P.M.
