CANTON -- An author who is generating literary buzz with his recently published book will visit SUNY Canton for the final installment of the spring semester's Living Writers Series.

Daniel Torday will read excerpts from "The Last Flight of Poxl West" at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 30, in the Richard W. Miller Campus Center's Kingston Theater. Admission is free.

"The Last Flight of Poxl West" quickly garnered critical acclaim upon its release in March, and Torday recently appeared on NPR's "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross. The book continues to earn glowing reviews, including Amazon's designation as one of the 10 best books of March, as well as a prestigious spot on the cover of The New York Times Sunday Book Review.

The novel tells the story of Poxl West, a supposed World War II hero, and his nephew, Eli Goldstein. When Eli begins to delve into his uncle's memoires, he discovers Poxl may not be the man he once thought him to be.

Torday's literary peers have praised the novel, including award-winning author George Saunders, who called it "a wonderful accomplishment of storytelling verve: tender, lyrical, surprising, full of beautifully rendered details."

"'The Last Flight of Poxl West' beautifully explores Jewish identity of past and present, the pitfalls of contemporary heroism and celebrity, and the nature of storytelling," said SUNY Canton Assistant Professor of English and series creator Phil K. LaMarche. "We are lucky to have Mr. Torday on our campus, and this event is not to be missed."

This is Torday's second Living Writers Series appearance. He previously visited the college in 2012 after his novella, "The Sensualist," was published. His stories and essays have appeared in Esquire Magazine, Glimmer Train, Harper Perennial's Fifty-Two Stories, the Harvard Review and the Kenyon Review. Torday is currently the director of creative writing at Bryn Mawr College.

For more information about the Living Writers Series, visit www.canton.edu/writers.