| Gary Shteyngart | Little Failure: A Memoir Monday, February 24, 2014 at 7:30 PM; buy tickets online>>  This event was originally scheduled for January 21, and cancelled due to snow. Tickets to the original event will be honored. The satire of Nikolai Gogol and Richard Linklater meet in the absurdity, frenetic detail, and cultural obsessions of Gary Shteyngart's novels. His 2002 debut, The Russian Debutante's Handbook, won the Stephen Crane Award for First Fiction. He followed with Absurdistan and Super Sad True Love Story, which were lauded by the New York Times Book Review as among the best novels of their respective years. The "ridiculously witty and painfully prescient" (Time) Shteyngart returns with a tender, self-deprecating, rollicking memoir of his experiences in the contradictory worlds of uber-consumerist America and the perpetually deprived Soviet Union of his youth. It was in this space between that he struggled for purchase, for a voice, for love, and from which he ultimately emerged with a resonant and unflinching perspective on both worlds. In conversation with Daniel Torday, visiting professor of creative writing at Bryn Mawr College and author of the National Jewish Book Award-winning novella The Sensualist. |
Samuel G. Freedman | Breaking the Line
with Ericka Blount Danois | Love, Peace, and Soul Tuesday, February 25, 2014 at 7:30 PM; FREE No tickets or reservations required. For more info: 215-567-4341  Veteran journalist and award-winning professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Samuel G. Freedman is the author of several books on teaching, religion, and American social life, including The Inheritance, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, andUpon This Rock, recipient of the 1993 Helen Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism. A former staff reporter for the New York Times, he currently pens the "On Religion" column. Breaking the Line captures a pivotal time in the civil rights movement in telling the story of the 1967 Orange Blossom Classic-the championship game of black college football-where two rival football teams, two legendary coaches, and two star quarterbacks broke the color line and revolutionized American sports.  Ericka Blount Danois writes about race, politics, music, sports, and culture for the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, Spin, and Vibe magazine, among other publications. She began her career at the Philadelphia Tribune with a cover story on Kenny Gamble, the king of Philadelphia International Records. Her debut book, Love, Peace, and Soulis a celebratory collection of anecdotes and stories from behind the scenes at Soul Train-the cultural phenomenon that launched the careers of legendary artists including Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, the Jackson 5, Aretha Franklin, and Gladys Knight. |
| Anna Quindlen | Still Life with Bread Crumbs Barbara Gohn Day Memorial Lecture Thursday, February 27, 2014 at 7:30 PM; buy tickets online>>  Explorer of the profound connections of empathy and home, Anna Quindleneschews the increasingly materialistic and hectic nature of American culture as she "captures both the beauty and the breathtaking fragility of family life" (People). She began her career as a journalist in 1974, and over the next two decades worked most notably at the New York Times, where her column "Public and Private" won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1992. Since 1995 Quindlen has devoted the majority of her time to writing novels, which include Object Lessons, Rise and Shine, and One True Thing, which was adapted into a film starring Meryl Streep. Still Life with Bread Crumbs follows the flight of a photographer from her shaky life in the city to realizations of peace and personal growth in the country. |
Of Interest
Towards a Calmer, More Peaceful Life: Steps You Can Take Tuesday, February 25, 2014 at 6:00 PM; FREE; Room 108 No reservations required. For more info: 215-686-5331  Everyone experiences stress in ways that impact our lives, but what can we do about it? Here's a start: join holistic therapist Lisa Resnick for interactive discussion and activities designed to help you manage stress and work towards that crucial emotional, physical, and spiritual balance. This program is part of One Book, One Philadelphia. To learn more, visit:www.freelibrary.org/onebook. |
| Free Library Author Events Andy Kahan, Ruth W. and A. Morris Williams Director, Author Events Laura Kovacs, Associate Director Jason Freeman, Program Assistant phone: 215-567-4341 email: authorevents@freelibrary.org |
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| General Information Author Events are held in the Montgomery Auditorium at theParkway Central Library, 1901 Vine Street, unless noted. Events generally consist of a talk by the author and a Q & A period with the audience followed by a book signing. Books are sold on-site. Seating begins 45 minutes prior to event start times. No tickets orreservations are required for Free Author Events. Live American Sign Language translation of Author Events is provided upon request. Please call the Author Events Office at least two weeks in advance to request this service. |
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