Elan Barnehama, in conversation about his new novel "Escape Route"

Former Pioneer Valley resident and UMass MFA alumni, iElan Barnehama will read and discuss his second novel, **Escape Route,** set in New York City during the tumultuous late 1960s, is told by a teenager, Zach, a first-generation son of Holocaust survivors, and NY Mets fan, who becomes obsessed with the Vietnam War and with finding an escape route for his family for when he believes the US will round up and incarcerate its Jews. Zach meets Samm, a seventh-generation Manhattanite whose brother has returned from Vietnam with PTSD which results in his suicide. Together, Samm and Zach explore protest, friendship, music, faith, and love during a time littered with hope and upheaval around the globe.