Author and University of Hawai'i graduate student Patricia Wood, whose first novel "Lottery" was published this summer by Putnam, will read from her book at 5:30 p.m. today at the UH-Manoa Architecture Auditorium. The book is in its second printing.

The event will include a reception with pupu, and a book-signing. Copies of "Lottery" will be available for purchase.

Wood, a doctoral student in the UH-Manoa College of Education, says she was inspired to write the novel partly because as a Center on Disability Studies' certificate in disability and diversity studies student, "her eyes were open to disability culture."

"Lottery" is about a mentally challenged young man who wins $12 million in the Washington state lottery.

Part-time resident and best-selling author Paul Theroux, who knows Wood, says, "What I love about 'Lottery' is that it is much more than a novel about windfall affecting a simple soul — it's a book about a stupendous event affecting a great number of people, especially the reader."

"We are extremely pleased to see one of our students in the certificate program achieve such a huge accomplishment," said Robert Stodden, director of the Center on Disability Studies.