Saturday, August 1, 2026

Author Gregory Orfalea to discuss and sign novel ‘Wonder and Shame’ at Vroman’s Bookstore

Author Gregory Orfalea will discuss and sign his novel Wonder and Shame at Vroman’s Bookstore on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, at 7:00 p.m.

The store lists the appearance on its public author-program calendar as an in-store discussion and signing, categorized as an adult event and book signing.

The event is scheduled at Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 East Colorado Boulevard, in Pasadena’s Playhouse District. The store was founded on November 14, 1894, by Adam Clark Vroman, and is described in published accounts as Southern California’s oldest and largest independent bookstore. It hosts several hundred author events each year and, on Tuesdays, is open until 9:00 p.m.

Wonder and Shame, stylized Wonder + Shame, was published in June 2026 by the Word on Fire Luminor imprint and released in hardcover. The novel is centered on Frank Matter, a historian. According to the synopsis provided by the author, Matter — disillusioned during the 2016 presidential campaign — learns that his family’s ancestral village has been destroyed in a chemical-weapons attack and travels to Syria to rescue a deaf cousin known as “the Seamstress of Damascus,” with whom he had once been in love. The two flee to a large Syrian refugee camp, where Matter sets out to teach orphaned children to play baseball. Published descriptions of the book characterize it as a story that moves through faith, war, family obligation and cultural and religious inheritance.

Orfalea was born in Los Angeles on August 9, 1949, and is the author or editor of eleven books. His earlier titles include the biography Journey to the Sun, an account of Junípero Serra published by Scribner; the memoir collection Angeleno Days, which won the Arab American Book Award and was a finalist for the PEN USA Prize; and the short-story collection The Man Who Guarded the Bomb. His essays have appeared in publications including The Atlantic, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times Magazine. He has taught writing and literature at the Claremont Colleges, Georgetown University, Westmont College and Santa Barbara City College, and is based in Santa Barbara. His grandparents emigrated from Syria and Lebanon, and his ancestral towns include Homs and Arbin in Syria — background that informs the novel’s setting.

Vroman’s has been a fixture of Pasadena’s book and cultural life for more than a century, presenting readings, discussions and signings across a range of genres. Its author series has drawn national and regional writers over the years, and the store continues to schedule multiple events each week at its Colorado Boulevard location.

Vroman’s notes on its event listing that purchasing the book from the store helps make its events possible.

The bookstore can be reached at (626) 449-5320, and event details are posted on the Vroman’s website.