The Moth Presents: A Point of Beauty: True Stories of Holding On and Letting Go

Bowles and the rest of the editing team at the Moth, a live storytelling series, follow up 2022’s How to Tell a Story with an affecting compendium of 50 true tales that “show us that even on the darkest of days there is usually something beautiful to observe or discover.” Novelist Maniza Naqvi describes “resuscitating a seventy-year-old bookstore in Karachi, Pakistan,” while the country struggled with fallout from the war in neighboring Afghanistan, and Francine Lobis Wheeler—whose son was murdered in the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School—contributes a wrenching account of the sweet conversation she enjoyed with him inside a coffee shop the morning of his death. The editors also include selections from such high-profile contributors as Lin-Manuel Miranda, who recalls how seeing Rent during its first year on Broadway inspired him to start writing musicals, and memoirist Elizabeth Gilbert, who provides a touching elegy recounting how her strong-willed partner’s fiery spirit endured even in her final days before dying of pancreatic cancer. The entries are soul-stirring and heartbreaking, often simultaneously. This collection serves as a testament to the broad scope and profound depth of human experience. Agent: Daniel Greenberg, Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary. (Mar.)