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Deets: Ben Weissenbach will be celebrating his debut novel in Santa Monica this week with a book signing at Diesel Book Store.

How did a 20-year-old Los Angeles native and Princeton student with almost no outdoor experience wind up in the northernmost regions of Alaska? Weissenbach’s often harrowing adventure is mixed with a stirring Gen Z critique of digital culture in his first book, North to the Future: An Offline Adventure Through the Changing Wilds of Alaska (July 15/Hachette).

Drawn by the tales of adventure that he loved reading as a boy (a la Jack London and John Krakauer), Ben grew up like most kids of his generation, experiencing life through a screen. When he signed up on the journey with renowned (and larger than life) ecologist, Roman Dial, he couldn’t imagine what would be in store for him as he walked and rafted 1,000 miles through the thawing wilderness of the Brooks Range near the Arctic Circle. For the first time, he experienced nature and climate change within inches of his face, encountering grizzly bears and hearing the cracking of receding glaciers. Ben saw up close how Alaska faces some of the worst effects of climate change on earth. It opened his eyes to the harsh reality of a warming world and the inexorable joy that comes from unplugging and slowing down.

Hint for the Average Socialite: This event is free and open to the public.

Free seats are limited. To reserve a seat, a copy of the book can be purchased.

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