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Event
Books and Breakfast with Susan Orlean
Literary Affairs and the Beverly Hills Public Library invite you to a Books & Breakfast discussion with NYT Bestselling writer Susan Orlean in conversation with Julie Robinson about The Library Book.
Please join us for a book club style conversation along with a Gourmet Bagel Bar. The Library Book has captured the hearts of readers and lovers and supporters of libraries across the country. This event is a celebration of libraries and will benefit The Friends of The Beverly Hills Public Library.
Tuesday, June 4
10:30am-12pm
The City of Beverly Hills Municipal Gallery
455 N. Rexford Drive, Room 220
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Ticket: $75
All net proceeds will be donated by Literary Affairs to The Friends of The Beverly Hills Library
NO REFUNDS
ABOUT THE BOOK:
A WASHINGTON POST TOP 10 BOOK OF THE YEAR * A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER and NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2018
On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had been cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual fire alarm. As one fireman recounted, Once that first stack got going, it was Goodbye, Charlie. The fire was disastrous: it reached 2000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the libraryand if so, who?
Weaving her lifelong love of books and reading into an investigation of the fire, award-winning New Yorker reporter and New York Times bestselling author Susan Orlean delivers a mesmerizing and uniquely compelling book that manages to tell the broader story of libraries and librarians in a way that has never been done before.
In The Library Book, Orlean chronicles the LAPL fire and its aftermath to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives; delves into the evolution of libraries across the country and around the world, from their humble beginnings as a metropolitan charitable initiative to their current status as a cornerstone of national identity; brings each department of the library to vivid life through on-the-ground reporting; studies arson and attempts to burn a copy of a book herself; reflects on her own experiences in libraries; and reexamines the case of Harry Peak, the blond-haired actor long suspected of setting fire to the LAPL more than thirty years ago.
Along the way, Orlean introduces us to an unforgettable cast of characters from libraries past and presentfrom Mary Foy, who in 1880 at eighteen years old was named the head of the Los Angeles Public Library at a time when men still dominated the role, to Dr. C.J.K. Jones, a pastor, citrus farmer, and polymath known as The Human Encyclopedia who roamed the library dispensing information; from Charles Lummis, a wildly eccentric journalist and adventurer who was determined to make the L.A. library one of the best in the world, to the current staff, who do heroic work every day to ensure that their institution remains a vital part of the city it serves.
Brimming with her signature wit, insight, compassion, and talent for deep research, The Library Book is Susan Orleans thrilling journey through the stacks that reveals how these beloved institutions provide much more than just booksand why they remain an essential part of the heart, mind, and soul of our country. It is also a master journalists reminder that, perhaps especially in the digital era, they are more necessary than ever.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Susan Orlean has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1992. She is the author of seven books, including Rin Tin Tin, Saturday Night, and The Orchid Thief, which was made into the Academy Award-winning film Adaptation. She lives with her family and her animals in upstate New York.
ABOUT THE FRIENDS OF THE BEVERLY HILLS PUBLIC LIBRARY:
Friends of the Beverly Hills Library was organized in 1959 to promote the first bond issue that built the library. Since its beginnings, Friends has played a significant role in the development of the Library. Friends activities and programs receive enthusiastic local participation and attract attendees from all over the Los Angeles area.
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LocationThe City of Beverly Hills Municipal Gallery (View)
455 N. Rexford Drive, Room 220
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
United States
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