Susan Coll: Word Salad
Join Curious Iguana at C. Burr Artz Public Library for a fun evening with bestselling author Susan Coll on Tuesday, September 29 from 6:00-7:00 pm to celebrate her latest release, Word Salad! The story follows Matilda as she returns home to D.C. to care for her ailing mother, takes on a new job at a local bookstore, and finds herself in the middle of a surprising turn of bookish events. Susan will be in-conversation with Holly Smith, editor-in-chief of the Washington Independent Review of Books. Following the discussion, Susan will answer questions and sign books. Copies of Word Salad will be available for purchase at the event.
Location: C. Burr Artz Public Library, 110 E. Patrick Street, Frederick, 21701
This event is free and open to the public. We are proud to partner with Frederick County Public Libraries for this event.
For accessibility requests, email events@curiousiguana.com at least two (2) weeks prior to the event.
About the book: Matilda loves logic and order, and now her structured world is falling apart—in a bookstore.
Former economics major Matilda is moving back to her hometown of Washington D.C. to care for her ailing mother, and she’s desperate for money. She takes a job at her neighborhood bookstore and tries, in vain, to make sense of illogical business of books. To make things worse, she’s forced to team up with a new hire—the enigmatic, flaky, larger-than-life, Sage—who shows up on her first day of work with zero administrative skills and her tiny, puffy, incessantly urinating dog that resembles an underfed rat.
Something in the chaos begins to remind Matilda of her long-neglected creative side, and she starts to rediscover the person she once was before so much got in the way. But things get even more unmanageable when Matilda and Sage are tasked with putting together an event for the reclusive and controversial Dr. Jordan Rutabaga, a windbag of a public intellectual with a cult following that includes a number of people who would like to literally and figuratively see him dead. Rutabaga has a long list of alleged misdeeds, from plagiarism to failure to pay child support to stiffing the nanny.
As the event date approaches, Matilda and Sage discover that Sage and Rutabaga have their own not uncomplicated past, adding yet another person to list of people who do not wish him well. Add in a lawsuit and an impending snowstorm along with the potentially sinister presence of Rutabaga himself, and Matilda is about to come undone.
About the author: USA Today and Washington Post bestselling writer Susan Coll is the author of eight previous novels, including The Literati, Real Life & Other Fictions, and Bookish People. Her other books include The Stager, Acceptance, Rockville Pike, and Karlmarx.com. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, NPR.org , The Atlantic.com, The Millions, and other publications. Her novel, Acceptance, was made into a television movie starring Joan Cusack. Susan is the recipient of multiple grants from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. She works as an event consultant at Politics and Prose Bookstore and was the president of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation for five years. Coll teaches workshops at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Her new novel, WORD SALAD, will be published by Harper Muse in September 2026.
About the moderator: Holly Smith is editor-in-chief of the Washington Independent Review of Books, as well as a college lecturer, longtime freelance writer, and proud “Jeopardy!” bronze medalist. Prior to joining the Independent, she was managing editor of Maryland Life magazine. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, CNBC.com , Salon, and elsewhere. She also co-authored the travel guide Seafood Lover’s Chesapeake Bay, which is ironic since she doesn’t eat fish. Find her on Bluesky at @HSmithWrites.
