Lauren Groff comes to Tampa Heights to talk Florida

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Cathy Salustri

Florida — both the book and the state — is magnificent.

I’m only one chapter into Lauren Groff’s Florida, and I already can’t wait to finish all the other stuff I have to do before I can sink into this delicious collection of short stories from this Gainesville author. She’s a master vocabulator; a voracious wordsmith, a verbose purveyor of Florida lore. In short, she tells one hell of a story, and Florida’s always at the core — or on the edges. Meet her ­and hear her read from her latest book at everyone’s fave Tampa Heights bookstore, Inkwood Books, on Thursday, June 7. That gives you plenty of time to get the book and start reading. You won't regret it.