Tom’s guest today was Alice McDermott, the New York Times best-selling author of eight terrific novels. Three of them, After This, At Weddings and Wakes and That Night, were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. Another novel, Charming Billy, won the National Book Award in 1998. Her eighth novel, The Ninth Hour, published just last month, is a profound and moving contemplation on the big issues: love, family, faith, religion, and bringing meaning to one’s life. The story is told with tenderness and compassion, by an artist at the height of her creative and literary powers.Alice McDermott will read from her work at two events at Johns Hopkins’ Homewood Campus in Baltimore in the next few weeks. On Nov. 6 at 5:30 pm, she will talk about and sign The Ninth Hour. Click here for free tickets. On Nov. 28 at 6:00 pm, she and Katharine Noel will read from their work – part of the Hopkins President’s Reading Series. Click here for more information.