Join me for an evening of conversation about GREAT SHORT BOOKS: A YEAR OF READING–BRIEFLY!
THURSDAY JUNE 8, 2023 6:30 PM
HUDSON PARK BRANCH–NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY (66 LEROY STREET BETWEEN HUDSON AND VARICK)
This is a hybrid in-person and Zoom event. Register HERE.
Great Short Books is a guide to 58 books–most of them 200 pages or less–that I read during the pandemic lockdown. It is a celebration of reading–and the insight, inspiration, and instruction we can get from great fictiom
“An exciting guide to all that the world of fiction has to offer in 58 short novels — from ‘The Great Gatsby’ and ‘Lord of the Flies’ to the contemporary fiction of Colson Whitehead and Leïla Slimani — that, ‘like a first date,’ offer pleasure and excitement without commitment.” New York Times Book Review
“A short novel is like a great first date. It can be extremely pleasant, even exciting, and memorable. Ideally, you leave wanting more. It can lead to greater possibilities. But there is no long-term commitment.”
–From the Introduction to Great Short Books
Join in a lively conversation about books; the authors I read and researched; and why books matter. I will focus on some of the books and writers associated with downtown New York, including James Baldwin who lived for a time on Horatio Street. I will also address the grave danger of book banning and censorship, a topic covered in his history of paperback publishing, Two-Bit Culture (1984). A West Villager and regular patron of the Hudson Park Library, Kenneth C. Davis is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Don’t Know Much About History.
Q&A session to follow.
