Gangsters and true crime, New York City history, financial literacy, MacArthur, FDR, Khrushchev, Lindsay, Main Street, U.S.A., travel, learning and self-discovery, climate change, foreign policy, the collective afterlife, and great pizza are among the wide-ranging topics coming up at our Author @ the Library talks in July 2014! We hope you’ll join us for insightful discussions with the authors of these recent notable non-fiction books. Author talks take place at 6:30 p.m. on the 6th floor of the Mid-Manhattan Library unless otherwise noted. 

How did the most decorated general in U.S. history lead an occupation with intelligence, class, and compassion? On Tuesday, July 1, historian Seymour Morris, Jr. explores Supreme Commander: MacArthur's Triumph in Japan.

What can inner-city kids from Brooklyn teach us about the economy? On Wednesday, July 2, Ralph W. Baker, Jr. Executive Director of the financial literacy program, New York Shock Exchange, describes Shock Exchange: How Inner-City Kids from Brooklyn Predicted the Great Recession and the Pain Ahead.

How can we turn feedback into productive listening and learning? On Monday, July 7, negotiation specialists Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen discuss Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well.

What do Leonid Khrushchev’s life and death mean in contemporary Russia? On Tuesday, July 8, international affiars expert Nina L. Khrushcheva tells her grandfather’s story in The Lost Khrushchev: A Journey into the Gulag of the Russian Mind.

What’s the story behind a generation of Prohibition gangsters? On Wednesday, July 9, historian Marc Mappen examines Prohibition Gangsters: The Rise and Fall of a Bad Generation.

Why did Roger Irwin commit a grisly triple-murder on Beekman Place on Easter Sunday, 1937? On Thursday, July 10, true crime writer and literature professor Harold Schecter tells the tale of The Mad Sculptor: The Maniac, the Model, and the Murder that Shook the Nation.

Who lives at 50 Main Street, USA? On Tuesday, July 15, photographer Piero Ribelli shares the stories people across the country living at 50 Main Street: The Face of America.

Where is Balochistan and what’s happening is this remote region of Pakistan? On Wednesday, July 16, Emmy-winning journalist Willem Marx explores Balochistan at a Crossroads.

What are New York City’s pizza landmarks and where are the best pies to be found? On Thursday, July 17, Peter Genovese of the Star Ledger dishes on Pizza City: The Ultimate Guide to New York's Favorite Food.

How does FDR’s record with regard to the Jews of Hitler's Europe stand? On Monday, July 21, historian Allan J. Lichtman examines the record on  FDR and the Jews, co-authored with Richard Breitman.

What is climate change, why have we failed to stop it, and why does what we do still matter? On Tuesday, July 22, environmental studies professor Dale W. Jamieson searches for Reason in a Dark Time: Why the Struggle Against Climate Change Failed - and What It Means for Our Future.

What is the legacy of Mayor John Lindsay and the American Dream? On Wednesday, July 23, professor of public policy Joseph P. Viteritti, editor of Summer in the City: John Lindsay, New York, and the American Dream, looks at Lindsay’s tenure as mayor of New York City during the tumultuous 1960s.

What is it like to cycle alone across the continental United States? On Monday, July 28, New York Times writer Bruce Weber shares adventures from his latest, Life Is A Wheel: Love, Death, Etc., and A Bike Ride Across America

How much does the continued life of the human race after our deaths affect the way we live our lives now? On Tuesday, July 29, philosophy professor Samuel Scheffler, author of Death and the Afterlife presents “The Importance of the (Collective) Afterlife.”

What became of the West Point Class of ‘41 and how did they shape history? On Wednesday, July 30, Anne Kazel-Wilcox and PJ Wilcox tell the story of West Point ‘41: The Class That Went to War and Shaped America.

Why have the Obama administration’s efforts to broker peace between Israel and Palestine failed? On Thursday, July 31, Josh Ruebner of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, discusses Shattered Hopes: Obama’s Failure to Broker Israeli-Palestinian Peace.

If you'd like to find any of the books presented at our past author talks, you can find book lists from our January 2013 - July 2014 Author @ the Library programs in the BiblioCommons catalog. 

The Author @ the Library posts include authors discussing their recent non-fiction works at the Mid-Manhattan Library. Don't miss the many other interesting classes, films, readings and talks on our program calendar. Enjoy art lectures and artist conversations, virtual tours of the city, and short story readings at Story Time for Grown-ups. We hope to see you at some of our free programs this summer!