Boston Public Library author talks feature a wide range of talented writers. Hear authors read from their books, purchase a copy, get it signed, and learn about the creative process that gets such magnificent stories told. To look for even more author talks taking place Boston Public Library locations, please use our calendar of events.
Written with dark wit and psychological insight, Koren Zailckas’ first novel is the shattering story of a mother’s love gone too far. Josephine Hurst has her family under control. With two beautiful daughters, a brilliantly intelligent son, a tech-guru husband, and a historical landmark home, her life is picture perfect. But living in this matriarch’s cheerful yet controlling domain hasn’t been easy for her family. When a violent incident leads to a visit from child-protective services, the truth about the Hurst family might finally be revealed. Koren Zailckas’ memoir Smashed was published in 2005. The story of her teenage alcoholism has sold over a half million copies. She has contributed to The Guardian, U.S. News & World Report, Glamour, and Jane.
Tuesday
October 8
6:00 p.m.
Central Library
Conference Room C05/C06
700 Boylston StreetAuthor talk with Gail McMeekin, author of The 12 Secrets of Highly Successful Women: A Portable Life Coach for Creative Women
The 12 Secrets of Highly Successful Women guides creative women toward what's possible when you follow your heart and honor your gifts. Gail McMeekin offers advice for the specific challenges creative women face today including thinking too small, underestimating the need for change, fearing the future, and lacking self-confidence. This book combines interviews with some of today's most successful women and the author’s own proven success strategies to help readers transcend their "blocks" and achieve success. Gail McMeekin is the founder and president of Creative Success, LLC. She has over 30 years of experience in helping people to vision and achieve their personal, professional, and creative goals. Her work has been featured in Redbook, The Boston Globe, Health, Investor's Business Daily, and other national publications.
Thursday
October 10
6:00 p.m.
Central Library
Commonwealth Salon
700 Boylston StreetAuthor talk with Sheri Fink, author of Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital
Situated at three feet below sea level, Memorial Hospital served as a shelter from every storm that pummeled the Gulf Coast since the hospital opened in 1926. When Hurricane Katrina hit on August 30, 2005, at least 2,000 people were at Memorial, including 240 patients and 600 medical and other workers. Surrounded by floodwaters, a chaotic evacuation sputtered to a stop, leaving hundreds of sick patients stranded in a hospital without electricity. Five Days at Memorial raises important ethical and legal questions about the way resources are allocated in crisis situations and inspires significant debate, including rationing, justice, and liability. Sheri Fink’s reporting has won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Magazine Award, and the Overseas Press Club Lowell Thomas Award.
Tuesday
October 15
6:00 p.m.
Central Library
Conference Room C05/06
700 Boylston StreetAuthor talk with Nacie Carson, author of The Finch Effect: The Five Strategies to Adapt and Thrive in Your Working Life
Career expert Nacie Carson provides insight that helps professionals at any stage of their career to survive the post-crisis economy. In The Finch Effect, she explains the potential for anyone willing to adapt to the fluid new "gig economy." Nacie Carson currently focuses her research and work on career evolution, entrepreneurship, the gig economy, and the millennial work experience. Carson’s writing on professional development has been featured in several media outlets, including Entrepreneur.com, FastCompany.com, Upstart (formerly Portfolio), Monster.com, and PBS’ Next Avenue.
Wednesday
October 16
6:00 p.m.
Central Library
Commonwealth Salon
700 Boylston Street
Author talk with Nancy Rubin Stuart, author of Defiant Brides: The Untold Story of Two Revolutionary-Era Women and the Radical Men They Married
Defiant Brides offers a portrait of two rebellious women who defied expectations at a volatile political moment in early America. When Peggy Shippen married American Revolutionary War military hero Benedict Arnold, financial debts and political intrigues prompted her to conspire with him against George Washington. Lucy Flucker defied her Tory parents by marrying Henry Knox, a poor Boston bookbinder. When Knox became a general in the American Revolutionary War, Lucy followed him through Washington’s army camps where she bore and lost ten children, befriended Martha Washington, and secured her legacy as an admired patriot wife. Nancy Rubin Stuart is an award-winning author, journalist and writer-producer. She has contributed to The New York Times and other national publications.
Thursday
October 17
6:00 p.m.
Central Library
Abbey Room
700 Boylston StreetAuthor talk with Jill Lepore, author of Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin
Jane Franklin is the sister of Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States. Jane was a constant presence and influence in her brother's life. Making use of a collection of little-studied material, including documents, objects, and portraits discovered recently, author Jill Lepore brings Jane Franklin to life. Lepore’s account of Jane Franklin is at once a different account of the founding and one of the great untold stories of American history and letters. Jill Lepore is the David Woods Kemper '41 Professor of American History at Harvard University and a staff writer at The New Yorker.
This program is a partnership with the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Tuesday
October 22
6:00 p.m.
Central Library
Conference Room CO5/CO6
700 Boylston StreetAuthor talk with Patrick Smith, author of Cockpit Confidential: Everything You Need to know About Air Travel: Questions, Answers, and Reflections
For millions of people travel by air is an uncomfortable and fearful experience. Patrick Smith, airline pilot and author of Cockpit Confidential, reveals the strange and misunderstood world of commercial flying, such as the dysfunction of the modern airport, terrorism in perspective, airfares, seating woes, and the pitfalls of airline customer service. Patrick Smith took his first flying lesson at age fourteen. His first job with an airline came in 1990 and his “Ask the Pilot” column ran regularly on Salon.com from 2002 until 2012. He has appeared on over 200 radio and television outlets.
Thursday
November 7
6:00 p.m.
Central Library
Commonwealth Salon
700 Boylston StreetAuthor talk with Priscilla Johnson McMillan, author of Marina and Lee: The Tormented Love and Fatal Obsession Behind Lee Harvey Oswald's Assassination of John F. Kennedy
EVENT CANCELLED
Reissued to mark the 50th anniversary of the John F. Kennedy assassination, Marina and Lee is an account of one of America's most traumatic events and a classic work of narrative history. In her account of Lee Harvey Oswald's progress toward the assassination, Priscilla Johnson McMillan delves inside his fevered mind and manic marriage. When Marina hears of Kennedy's death, she knows her husband has killed the President. Priscilla Johnson McMillan worked for Senator John. F. Kennedy in 1953. In 1959, she was a reporter in Moscow when she interviewed Lee Harvey Oswald, who was trying to defect to the Soviet Union. Priscilla Johnson McMillan conducted hundreds of interviews with Marina and spent thirteen years researching before publishing in Marina and Lee in 1977.
Tuesday
November 19
6:00 p.m.
Central Library
Commonwealth Salon
700 Boylston StreetAuthor talk with Joshua Greene, author of Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them
A synthesis of neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy, Joshua Greene’s Moral Tribes reveals the underlying causes of modern conflict. Joshua Greene argues the human brain is much like a dual-mode camera, with automatic settings and a manual mode. The automatic settings are emotions—efficient, automated programs honed by evolution, culture, and personal experience. The brain’s manual mode is its capacity for deliberate reasoning, which makes our thinking flexible. Drawing inspiration from moral philosophy and cutting-edge science, Moral Tribes shows when to trust instincts, when to reason, and how the right kind of reasoning can be forward moving. Joshua Greene is the John and Ruth Hazel Associate Professor of the Social Sciences and director of the Moral Cognition Lab in Harvard University’s Department of Psychology.
Tuesday
December 3
6:00 p.m.
Central Library
Commonwealth Salon
700 Boylston StreetAuthor talk with David Misch, author of Funny: The Book - Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Comedy
Author David Misch presents “The History of Ha!,” a some-holds-barred survey of absolutely everything funny that’s ever happened. From ancient Greece to Modern Family, David Misch uses clips and commentary to look at what comedy is, where it comes from, and where it’s going. Among David Misch’s TV and movie credits are the Emmy-nominated Mork and Mindy, Duckman, Saturday Night Live, and The Muppets Take Manhattan. He is also a playwright, songwriter, blogger, teacher, stand-up comic, and has lectured at Columbia University, Fordham University, University of Southern California, and University of California, Los Angeles.