The importance of pretentiousness... Mark Twain's late-life globetrotting... secrets of the Nordic way of life... specialty recipes for bartering, sharing and gifting... the history of the U. S. Postal Service... the need for sustainable development... meaningful ways to remember lost loved ones... the Jewish Ghetto's five-hundred year history ... the true story of the Santa Claus Man... the exploitation of America’s most vulnerable citizens... the fascinating history of Jewish Punk musicians... an economist's take on the history of Manhattan’s skyline... a Jewish genealogical journey... New York City’s role in the Civil War... a scientific look at similarities between humans and animals.
We've got a selection of engaging author talks coming up this month at the Mid-Manhattan Library. Come listen to scholars and other experts discuss their recent non-fiction books on a variety of subjects and ask them questions. Author talks take place at 6:30 PM on the 6th floor of the library unless otherwise noted. No reservations are required. Seating is first come, first served. You can also request a library copy of the authors' books from the catalog by using the links below.
| Monday, August 1, 2016 Pretentiousness: Why It Matters with Dan Fox, a British writer, musician, editor, and filmmaker. This illustrated lecture explores the etymology and history of pretentiousness. | |
| Tuesday, August 2, 2016 Chasing the Last Laugh: Mark Twain's Raucous and Redemptive Round-the-World Comedy Tour with Richard Zacks, bestselling author of "Island of Vice and The Pirate Hunter". This illustrated lecture presents a rich and lively account of how Mark Twain’s late-life adventures abroad helped him recover from financial disaster and family tragedy—and revived his world-class sense of humor. | |
| Monday, August 8, 2016 The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life with Anu Partanen, a Finnish journalist based in New York City. This illustrated lecture shows Americans how to draw on elements of the Nordic way of life to nurture a fairer, happier, more secure, and less stressful society for themselves and their children. | |
 | Wednesday, August 10, 2016 Food Swap: Specialty Recipes for Bartering, Sharing & Giving with Emily Paster, co-founder of the Chicago Food Swap. This illustrated lecture captures the fun and the flavors of the emerging food swap movement. |
| Thursday, August 11, 2016 Neither Snow Nor Rain: A History of the United States Postal Service with Devin Leonard, a staff writer at Bloomberg Businessweek. This illustrated lecture is a rich, multifaceted history, full of remarkable characters, from the first letter carriers through Ben Franklin’s days, when postmasters worked out of their homes and post roads cut new paths through the wilderness, to stamp-collecting FDR, to the revolutionaries who challenged USPS's monopoly on mail, to the renegade union members who brought the system—and the country—to a halt in the 1970s. | |
| Monday, August 15, 2016 The Age of Sustainable Development with Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. This illustrated lecture explains the central concept for our age, which is both a way of understanding the world and a method for solving global problems—sustainable development. | |
| Tuesday, August 16, 2016 Passed and Present: Keeping Memories of Loved Ones Alive with Allison Gilbert, author of the critically-acclaimed "Always Too Soon: Voices of Support for Those Who Have Lost Both Parents," in conversation with Bill Ritter, anchor of WABC Eyewitness News. This dialogue showcases creative and meaningful ways to keep the memory of loved ones alive. Please join New York City legend and anchor of WABC-TV Bill Ritter in conversation with author Allison Gilbert about her new and groundbreaking book, Passed and Present: Keeping Memories of Loved Ones Alive. Passed and Present has been featured in People magazine and Arianna Huffington and Maria Shriver have tweeted about it. The discussion will focus on ways we can honor, remember, and celebrate the family and friends we never want to forget while recognizing what Bill Ritter calls “estate planning for the heart” — ways we can strengthen our relationships with loved ones before they die. Ritter will reveal aspects of himself most viewers never see— the myriad ways he pays tribute to his father’s memory and how the loss of his dad fueled a sweeping two-part series for ABC’s World News Tonight, one of the proudest achievements of his career. There is science behind these joyful acts: the more we celebrate loved ones who have passed, the happier and more fulfilled we are in the present. | |
| Wednesday, August 17, 2016 Ghetto: The Invention of a Place, the History of an Idea with Mitchell Duneier, the Maurice P. During Professor of Sociology at Princeton University and the author of the award-winning urban ethnographies "Slim's Table" and "Sidewalk." This illustrated lecture traces the idea of the ghetto from its beginnings in the sixteenth century and its revival by the Nazis to the present. | |
| Thursday, August 18, 2016 The Santa Claus Man: The Rise and Fall of a Jazz Age Con Man and the Invention of Christmas in New York with Alex Palmer, a freelance writer and researcher whose work has appeared in "Smithsonian,""Vice," and "Mental Floss," among other publications. This illustrated lecture spotlights the true story of John Duval Gluck, Jr., who in 1913 founded the Santa Claus Association, which had the sole authority to answer Santa's mail in New York City. | |
| Monday, August 22, 2016 The Poverty Industry: The Exploitation of America's Most Vulnerable Citizens with Daniel L. Hatcher, Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore. This illustrated lecture details how state governments and their private industry partners are profiting from the social safety net, turning America’s most vulnerable populations into sources of revenue. | |
| Tuesday, August 23, 2016 Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk with Michael Croland, an editor for books about music and has written about Jews and punk for "Forward" and "New Voices." This illustrated lecture describes the fascinating world of Jews who relate to their Jewishness through the vehicle of punk―from prominent figures in the history of punk to musicians who proudly put their Jewish identity front and center. | |
| Wednesday, August 24, 2016 Building the Skyline: The Birth and Growth of Manhattan's Skyscrapers with Jason M. Barr, an associate professor of economics at Rutgers University-Newark. This illustrated lecture covers the economic history of the Manhattan skyline from 1626 to the present. | |
| Monday, August 29, 2016 Because of Eva: A Jewish Genealogical Journey with Susan J. Gordon, author of "Wedding Days: When and How Great Marriages Began" and many magazine and newspaper articles. This illustrated lecture describes the author's journey to Eastern Europe and Israel to solve mysteries in her family’s past by delving into World War II and Holocaust history. | |
 | Tuesday, August 30, 2016 City of Sedition: The History of New York City during the Civil War with John Strausbaugh, a journalist and cultural commentator based in New York City. This lecture tells the story of the huge—and hugely conflicted—role New York City played in the Civil War. |
| Wednesday, August 31, 2016 Not So Different: Finding Human Nature in Animals with Nathan H. Lents, professor of molecular biology and director of the biology and cell and molecular biology programs at John Jay College of the City University of New York. This illustrated lecture shows that the same evolutionary forces of cooperation and competition have shaped both humans and animals and that Identical emotional and instinctual drives govern our actions. |
Don’t miss the many interesting films, book discussions, and computer and technology classes on our program calendar. The theme for Story Time for Grown-ups this month is Homages-Sherlock Holmes and Alice in Wonderland. If you enjoy talking about books, join us on Friday, August 12 for Open Book Night. The theme this month is World Literature.
All of our programs and classes are free, so why not come and check one out! Hope to see you soon at the library!
Download flyers for the Mid-Manhattan Library's August 2016 book related programs here:
FLYER -Author Talks & More AUGUST 2016.pdf
FLYER - BOOK DISCUSSION August 2016 Accidental Tourist.pdf
