Books&Books at The Betsy Hotel Presents An Afternoon with Paul Yoon
Sun, 7/26/2026 – 4:00pm
Place: The Betsy Hotel
BBar
1440 Ocean Dr
Miami, FL 33139
Join us for the latest installment of the Books & Books at The Betsy Monthly Literary Series with author Paul Yoon as we discuss his new novel, Etna (Scribner, $28). Deliberate, captivating, and penned with exacting intent, Yoon grips readers in this story about an ex-military dog embarking on a personal odyssey back to the home he was taken from. In this post-war landscape, Etna explores themes of hope, survival, ruin, rebirth, and the power of an idea.
Free & open to the public · RSVP recommended · Books will be available for purchase at the event. Can’t make the event? Buy your copy here.
About the Books & Books at the Betsy Monthly Literary Series + Mini Residency
The series marks the return of Books & Books’ beloved literary programming to Miami Beach, following the closure of its Lincoln Road location during the pandemic. It also champions a 20 year partnership between Betsy co-owner Jonathan Plutzik and bookstore entrepreneur Mitchell Kaplan, both pacesetting leaders of distinguished South Florida business concerns – with a profound commitment to the power of literature to build community.
Events will take place on the last Sunday of every month at 4 p.m. in Bbar, The Betsy’s intimate underground art-filled venue. Each salon-style gathering will feature a visiting author – selected by Books&Books in partnership with major publishers -, and an audience Q&A. Signed copies of books will be available for purchase. Valet and street parking will be available.
NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2026 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, TIME, and LITHUB
A BEST BOOK OF THE SUMMER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, THE BOSTON GLOBE, LITHUB, and SCARY MOMMY
Beloved author and winner of The Story Prize, Paul Yoon, is back with the unforgettable story of a working dog…
About The Book
Set in a fictional country in the present day, this is a story told through the eyes of an ex-military dog, Etna. After surviving years of a devastating war, Etna decides one night to leave the men he has fought alongside for years and return home—to the place where he was taken from when he was young, in the thin but persistent hope that if a home exists for him, it might be there.
Thus begins an exhilarating odyssey told through the eyes of a dog as he traverses across ruined landscapes and fights to survive in a world that, even in peacetime, proves to be just as precarious. Along the way, he encounters other animals and humans who are attempting to figure out how to start again. What makes a life when there is no home to go back to? How do we begin to trust each other again after such profound loss?
This is a novel about the power of an idea, about never giving up, and ultimately a novel about finding hope in the most dire of times.
About The Author
Paul Yoon is the author of six works of fiction: Etna; Once the Shore, a New York Times Notable Book; Snow Hunters, winner of the Young Lions Fiction Award; The Mountain, an NPR Best Book of the Year; Run Me to Earth, a Time Must-Read Books of 2020 and longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction; and The Hive and the Honey, winner of the 20th Annual Story Prize and longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates prize.
