Ben Markovits, author of "The Rest of Our Lives" attends The Booker Prize 2025 ceremony in London. Photo: Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images
👋 Asher Price here, Axios' Austin, Tex.-based correspondent, writing to kvell about my brother-in-law, who's doing a book talk and signing in Nashville next week.
Why it matters: Ben Markovits, my wife's brother, was a finalist for the 2025 Booker Prize for his new novel, "The Rest of Our Lives."
It's about a middle-aged guy who embarks on a cross-country road trip as he considers the future of his marriage in the wake of his wife's affair.
Between the lines: Ben had a serious, hard-to-diagnose health issue as he was writing this novel, and details made its way into the book.
The bottom line: I love Ben as not only a writer, but as a person — he's funny and thoughtful, and is surely the only Booker finalist to have scored on Dirk Nowitzki.
If you go: The conversation with Ann Patchett is at Parnassus Books, 3900 Hillsboro Pike Suite 14, on Jan. 12 at 6:30pm.
