Miranda Spivack's BACKROOM DEALS IN OUR BACKYARDS In Store Event & Signing

Join us at Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore on Thursday, July 17 when award winning journalist and author Miranda S. Spivack comes to present her new book Backroom Deals in Our Backyards: How Government Secrecy Harms Our Communities and the Local Heroes Fighting Back. Miranda will be joined in conversation by Victoria Baranetsky and will sign copies of her book after the presentation.

Most Americans are likely to encounter the effects of government malfeasance or neglect close to home—from their governors, mayors, town councils, school boards, police, and prosecutors. In fact, deals shrouded in darkness are regularly made at the state and local levels, often the result of closed-door discussions between governments and industry without any scrutiny whatsoever from the public. Too often, as this groundbreaking new work of investigative reporting reveals, residents are intentionally kept on the outside, struggling to get information about significant issues affecting their communities—from car crashes and dirty drinking water, to failing safety gear—until the backroom deals are done and it’s too late to challenge them.

A work of riveting narrative nonfiction based on years of original reporting, Backroom Deals in Our Backyards tells the story of five “accidental activists”—people from across the United States who started questioning why their local and state governments didn’t protect them from issues facing their communities and why there was a frightening lack of transparency surrounding the way these issues were resolved. The secret deals, lies, and corruption they uncover shake their faith in government but move them to action.

For readers of Chain of Title and Superman’s Not Coming, Spivack’s revealing take on a hidden dimension of American politics will outrage and educate anyone who cares about the forces shaping their own communities.

MIRANDA S. SPIVACK is a veteran reporter and editor who specializes in stories about government accountability and secrecy. She spent twenty years as an award-winning editor and reporter for the Washington Post. She previously worked as the Washington reporter for the Springfield (Mass.) Daily News and The Hartford Courant and was the deputy editor of a chain of weekly newspapers before joining The Washington Post. She is a former Fulbright Scholar and Distinguished Visiting Professor of Journalism at DePauw University.

VICTORIA BARANETSKY is general counsel at The Center for Investigative Reporting, which publishes the Mother Jones magazine and the Reveal radio show. Prior to CIR, Victoria worked at The New York Times, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and the Wikimedia Foundation. She has also taught Berkeley Law School as an adjunct professor. She has written extensively about corporate secrecy and press rights.

THIS EVENT is free but registration is requested. Registration ends at 6:00 pm on July 17.

BECAUSE SEATING is limited, please register only if you plan to attend.

DUE TO SPACE limitations, we may not be able to accommodate every person at an event, so early registration is encouraged.

WALK-INS will be accommodated only if space allows.

WE ASK that attendees arrive between 6:45 and 7:00 PM for the event.

PLEASE leave your non-support companion animals at home.

OUR shared restrooms are not accessible after 6:30 PM, please plan accordingly.

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