Conversion to Judaism focus of author’s talk
When Christopher Noxon can find moments of time, he tries to write. On a daily basis, Noxon is responsible for shuttling his three children around the Los Angeles area. “I’m like Jennifer Weiner, where I am a drop-off to pick-up writer,” he says. “I probably have four solid hours during the day. I wrote most of ‘Plus One’ in a notebook at a library in Pasadena, where I had good mojo at.” Noxon is one of five authors participating in the Jewish Community Center’s Book Fest and Visiting Author Series. The series begins on Wednesday, Oct. 26, and runs through Nov. 6. Noxon will be at the JCC at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27. He will be talking about his most recent book, “Plus One,” as well as showing drawings from his latest project, tentatively titled “Prick.” “I’m working on a book, and it’s a graphic memoir,” he says. “It’s about my process to converting to Judaism.” Along with being an author, Noxon is also a journalist and illustrator. He has written for The New Yorker, Details, The New York Times Magazine, Los Angeles Magazine. He is married to television writerproducer Jenji Kohan, who is responsible for the hit TV shows “Weeds” and “Orange Is the New Black.” During his event, Noxon will also talk about his novel “Plus One.” “Plus One” is a comedic take on breadwinning women and caretaking men in modern Los Angeles. If follows Alex Sherman-Zicklin, a midlevel marketing executive whose wife’s 14th attempt at a TV pilot is produced, ordered to series and awarded an Emmy. Overnight, she’s sucked into a mad show business vortex and he’s tasked with managing their new high-profile Hollywood lifestyle. He falls in with a posse of plus ones, men who are married to women whose success, income, and public recognition far surpasses their own. “It’s a little autobiographical, given my situation,” he says with a laugh. “When my wife’s first TV show had taken off, she got really busy and the money I was bringing in as a freelancer wasn’t making a huge difference. I was thinking, ‘What do I do now?’ I had never written without an assignment or an editor. I started carrying a notebook around with me. I kept notes that amused me. I looked around me and saw many other men holding houses. This was quite different than the generations of our dads.”