East Meadow native Camille Perry is returning to the East Meadow Public Library to share details about her new book, Social Animals.
Perri will visit the library on July 28, at 7 p.m. to discuss her new novel. According to library staff, the book is a smart, witty and heartbreaking tale with a wonderful mixture of dogs, spies, narcissists, and social strata. She will be signing copies of her book which will be for sale after a Q&A session led by library staff.
“That library is near and dear to my heart,” she said. “Going back now as an author, is incredible because all those years when I was shelving books at the library, I was dreaming of one day having one of my books on the on that shelf.”
Perri always aspired to be an author. “I was always trying to write novels throughout my whole youth,” she said. “While I was even a librarian, I was always writing on the side, knowing that I was going to try to get published one day… I had a few novels in the drawer that that didn't go anywhere, but I think that those were my learning process.”
Throughout Perri’s career, she authored articles for Esquire magazine, then became a ghost writer and honed her skills as a novelist.
Her other novels include The Assistants, a financial crime thriller, and When Katie Met Cassidy, a women-focused romantic comedy. Her new novel, The Social Animals, is a fun, fast-paced caper centered around a dog park in an affluent Massachusetts neighborhood.
“(The Assistants) was inspired by my work; I was working as the assistant to the editor in chief of Esquire magazine at the time and I used to do his expenses, and that was where I got the idea for an assistant embezzling funds to pay off debt,” she explained. “My second book was a bit of a turn genre-wise… It's really your standard sort of romantic comedy setup, but with queer characters, which at the time was fairly groundbreaking.”
Perri previously came to the library to share her two previous books.
“Camille's enthusiasm as a page carried over to when she became a librarian,” Reader Services Librarian Christina Crocker said. “It was a true pleasure working with Camille as her zeal and love for books and libraries was significantly apparent: becoming a writer was a natural evolution.”
Janine Walsh, head of the library’s reader services department, is excited to have a Perri return.
“She's a former East Meadow Library employee, so we're very happy to have her back,” she explained. “She came about 10 years ago with her first book, The Assistants, and now she has the book, The Social Animals, coming out… We (also) have ongoing book groups, both mystery and an evening book discussion, and then one during the day we call our bestseller club.”
The library offers many other opportunities to meet local creatives, including authors, artists and guest speakers.
To learn more, visit EastMeadow.info.
