BARNES & NOBLE UWS HITS RECORD ATTENDANCE FOR CAL HOFFMAN’S EASY TO SLIP DEBUT NOVEL
Last night, the mezzanine floor at Barnes & Noble’s Upper West Side location nearly gave way beneath a tidal wave of literary fervor. With more guests standing than seated, the store officially recorded the largest turnout in its history—proof that, sometimes, a debut novel, Easy to Slip, arrives with the force of a classic. Over 150 guests packed the space: a mix of literary icons, curious readers, neighborhood regulars, and boldfaced names. The mood was electric. Laughter rippled through aisles, conversations sparked in hushed tones, and when Cal Hoffman began to read from his novel Easy to Slip, the room fell into reverent silence. In conversation with acclaimed author John Burnham Schwartz, Cal Hoffman spoke candidly about the emotional excavation that led to his debut novel—a coming-of-age story set in the 1970s, spanning New York City, Washington D.C., and Hollywood. At its heart, Easy to Slip is a meditation on identity, trauma, and the possibility of transformation. ...
The novel’s deeper power comes from what it doesn’t lead with: fame. As Cal Hoffman recounted, the main character’s life is quietly reshaped by the incidental rise of a family member—his uncle—who becomes a mega Hollywood star. But the fame, like the spotlight itself, only serves to illuminate the more intimate, universal struggle beneath: how to stay whole when the world keeps offering versions of yourself you barely recognize. The crowd, documented by celebrity photographer Patrick McMullan, included a stunning roster: Molly Ringwald and Panio Gianopoulos, actors Peter Riegert and his wife, author Cornelia Read Riegert, Josh Hamilton, Amy Stiller, Ellen McLaughlin, Jack Merrill, playwright David Auburn, authors Thomas Beller, James Sanders, Joanna Hershon, artist Will Ryman, theater producer James Nicola, musicians Tom and Steve Chapin—and Academy Award-winning documentarian Barbara Kopple, seated in the front row. After the reading, guests floated to a rooftop celebration at the Lucerne Hotel, hosted by Victoria Leacock Hoffman. Under the Manhattan night sky, Cal Hoffman signed books deep into the evening, the line curling around the terrace. With rapturous blurbs from Carl Bernstein and Geraldine Brooks already attached, Easy to Slip appears to be doing just the opposite—it’s landing with grace, weight, and resonance. Cal Hoffman, ever modest, called it “a story about getting through what nearly undoes us.” But if last night proved anything, it’s that Easy to Slip is already standing tall in the literary spotlight.
Upcoming Events:
- April 16th, Wednesday @ 6:30 p.m. - Location: LOS ANGELES, Diesel Bookstore, 225 26th Street, Brentwood, Los Angeles, Featuring: Arye Gross
- April 17th, Thursday @ 7:00 p.m. - Location: LOS ANGELES, Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, Featuring: Richard Cox
- April 23rd, Wednesday @ 7:30 p.m. - Location: LA JOLLA, Warwicks, 7812 Girard Avenue, La Jolla, Featuring: Paul Howes
—John Burnham Schwartz Joins Debut Author in a Moving Discussion on Identity, Trauma, Transformation—
From left to right: John Burnham Schwartz discusses Easy To Slip with Cal Hoffman at Barnes & Noble on the Upper West Side, NYC.
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Easy to Slip Nationwide 2025 Book Tour - Seven City Events
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Palm Beach Bookstore
Tuesday, October 25, 2025 @ 5:00 PM. Palm Beach Bookstore hosts author Cal Hoffman for a reading of his debut novel, Easy to Slip —a raw, gripping coming of age story with something for every one. The author will engage in conversation with Fredric Shernoff.
Address: 215 Poinciana Way
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Books & Books in Coconut Grove
Wednesday, October 26, 2025 @ 6:30 PM. Books & Books in Coconut Grove hosts author Cal Hoffman for a reading of his debut novel, Easy to Slip —a raw, gripping coming of age story with something for everyone. The author will engage in conversation with Fredric Shernoff.
Address: 3409 Main Highway
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Barnes & Noble NYC
Thursday, April 3rd, 2025 @ 7:00 PM. Barnes & Noble on the Upper West Side hosts Cal Hoffman for a reading of his debut novel, Easy to Slip —a raw, gripping coming of age story with something for every one. The author will engage in conversation with John Burnham Schwartz.
Address: 2289 Broadway at W. 82 St.
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Diesel Bookstore, Brentwood
Wednesday, April 16th, 2025 @ 6:30 PM. Diesel Bookstore hosts author Cal Hoffman for a reading of his debut novel, Easy to Slip —a raw, gripping coming of age story with something for every one. The author will engage in conversation with Ayre Gross.
Address: 225 26th Street
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Book Soup in W. Hollywood
Thursday, April 17th, 2025 @ 5:00 PM. Book Soup in West Hollywood hosts author Cal Hoffman for a reading of his debut novel, Easy to Slip —a raw, gripping coming of age story with something for everyone. The author will engage in conversation with Richard Cox.
Address: 8818 Sunset Boulevard
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Warwick's - La Jolla
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2025 @ 7:30 PM. Warwick’s in La Jolla hosts author Cal Hoffman for a reading of his debut novel, Easy to Slip —a raw, gripping coming of age story with something for every one. The author will engage in conversation with Paul Howes.
Address: 7812 Girard Avenue
What People Are Saying
“Intricate, hallucinatory, funny and harrowing, Cal Hoffman’s absorbing novel takes us deep into the psyche of an exceptional everyman, whose coming-of-age is at once singular and universal.”
— David Auburn, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Proof.
“At once memoir, novel, and reportage, Cal Hoffman brings us his remarkable gift for the most intimate story-telling: probing his own young psyche, through the language and tools of a writer, to unravel and overcome the hellish mysteries of psychosis. It is impossible not to marvel at this harrowing tour of the mind from deep within and the triumphant distance of recovery.”
—Carl Bernstein, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author of Chasing History: A Kid in the Newsroom, All the President’s Men, and Loyalties: A Son’s Memoir
“An uncle’s sudden stardom has unforeseen effects on his nephew’s family. As his celebrity soars, an impressionable boy must grapple with new definitions of success and an unbearable pressure to be special. When he arrives at college in the gritty New York of the 1970s, his mind is overrun by malevolent voices and visions. Raw, brave, and gripping, Easy to Slip is an uncommon exploration of adolescence, psychosis, and recovery.”
—Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of March.
Cal Hoffman’s debut novel heading to New York City as Part of the National Book Tour. On Thursday, April 3rd, Cal Hoffman will Read an Excerpt from his Novel and Engage in Conversation with John Burnham Schwartz at 7 pm, Barnes & Noble on the Upper West Side. Address: 2289 Broadway at 82 Street. <<<<<>>>>>
Cal Hoffman’s debut novel heading to New York City as Part of the National Book Tour. On Thursday, April 3rd, Cal Hoffman will Read an Excerpt from his Novel and Engage in Conversation with John Burnham Schwartz at 7 pm, Barnes & Noble on the Upper West Side. Address: 2289 Broadway at 82 Street. <<<<<>>>>>
“With the veracity of a diarist, Cal Hoffman uses vivid stream-of-consciousness prose to dramatize the story of a precocious young Columbian student doing his very damnest to stay on the right side of sanity. It’s a story that touches the heart and the mind in equal measure.”
Dought Wright, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright of I Am My Own Wife.
About the Author
CAL HOFFMAN
Cal Hoffman is a writer, educator, and actor. He graduated from Catholic University and studied at Webber-Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London and the MFA Fiction Writing program at Columbia U. He taught English and creative writing to immigrant children, private school students, and foster youth.
Cal acted in regional theater nationwide and starred in the acclaimed New York revival of Jules Feiffer’s play Elliot Loves.
He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Victoria Leacock Hoffman, and their son, Harry. Cal is currently completing his second novel, Judah Can’t Tell.
