If you'd like to understand why more wild animals are venturing into urban environments; to discover how the great impressionist Monet ate; to examine the Polaroid-Kodak patent war; to celebrate the music and poetry of Leonard Cohen; to learn how to beat fatigue; to explore the economic consequences of climate change; to relive a harrowing but heroic moment in Armenian history; to argue against suicide; or learn how to cope with the narcissists in your life, please join us at an Author @ the Library program in September!

From Bears in the Backyard to the Narcissist You Know, we've got a selection of engaging author talks coming up at the Mid-Manhattan Library. Come listen to scholars and other experts discuss their recent nonfiction books on a variety of subjects and ask them questions. Author talks take place at 6:30 p.m. on the 6th floor of the library unless otherwise noted. No reservations are required. Seating is first come, first served. You can also request the authors' books using the links to the catalog included below.

	Thursday, September 3: Bears in the Backyard: Big Animals, Sprawling Suburbs, and the New Urban Jungle with Edward R. Ricciuti, a science journalist, naturalist, and former curator at the New York Zoological Society (now the Wildlife Conservation Society). This lecture explores cutting edge research into why large wild animals are encroaching on human turf, how these creatures, invading our comfort zone, impacts all of us, and how to deal with this issue on both societal and personal levels. The audience will learn how to protect against potential dangers even as they are being thoroughly entertained by hair-raising tales of real-life encounters.
	Wednesday, September 9: Monet's Palate Cookbook: The Artist & His Kitchen Garden At Giverny with Derek Fell, who has been associated with the Monet Foundation for almost 30 years, produces his annual wall calendar, Monet's Garden and author of The Magic of Monet's Garden. This illustrated lecture showcases Monet's art, his gardens, and his passion for good food accompanied by slides of some of Monet's favorite meals, his house interiors, his kitchen garden, his favorite variety selections, and his ornamental gardens—all of which are extensions of his art.
	Thursday, September 10: A Triumph of Genius: Edwin Land, Polaroid, and the Kodak Patent War with Ronald K. Fierstein, who worked closely with Edwin Land as a young lawyer on the team of litigators representing Polaroid in court. This illustrated lecture tells the fascinating story of the reclusive genius who, as a teen, invented the plastic polarizer, which is still used almost a century later in countless popular applications including our ubiquitous sunglasses and LCD screens.
	Wednesday, September 16: A Broken Hallelujah: Rock and Roll, Redemption, and the Life of Leonard Cohen with Liel Leibovitz, a senior writer for Tablet magazine. This lecture brings to life a passionate poet-turned-musician and what compels him and his work.
	Thursday, September 17: The Exhaustion Breakthrough: Unmask the Hidden Reasons You're Tired and Beat Fatigue for Good with Holly Phillips, MD, a Manhattan-based board-certified general internist and medical contributor to CBS News. This illustrated lecture helps the audience to understand exhaustion, rule out any underlying illnesses, correct any allergies or hormonal issues that may be contributing to extreme tiredness, and incorporates lifestyle factors and alternative therapies that will improve overall energy.
	Monday, September 21: Climate Shock: The Economic Consequences of a Hotter Planet with Gernot Wagner, lead senior economist at the Environmental Defense Fund and also the author of But Will the Planet Notice? This illustrated lecture explores the likely repercussions of a hotter planet, drawing on and expanding from work previously unavailable to general audiences. It demonstrates that climate change can and should be dealt with--and what could happen if we do not.
	Thursday, September 24: The Great Fire: One American's Mission to Rescue Victims of the 20th Century's First Genocide with Lou Ureneck, a professor of journalism at Boston University, a former Nieman fellow and editor-in-residence at Harvard University. This illustrated lecture describes the harrowing story of a Methodist minister and a principled American naval officer who helped rescue more than 250,000 refugees during the genocide of Armenian and Greek Christians.
	Monday, September 28: Stay: A History of Suicide and the Philosophies Against It with Jennifer Michael Hecht, a historian of science and culture and a poet. This illustrated lecture channels the author's grief for two friends lost to suicide into a search for history's most persuasive arguments against the irretrievable act.
	Tuesday, September 29: The Narcissist You Know: Defending Yourself Against Extreme Narcissists in an All-About-Me Age with Joseph Burgo, PhD., a psychotherapist and also author of Why Do I Do That? Psychological Defense Mechanisms and the Hidden Ways They Shape Our Lives. This illustrated lecture guides the attendees in how to identify, understand, manage, and coexist with narcissistic personalities. If you'd like to read any of the books presented at our past author talks, you can find book lists from our January 2013 - September 2015 Author @ the Library programs in the BiblioCommons catalog.

In addition to our Author @ the Library programs, we begin the month with two special film screenings from the BBC Worldwide North America Film Series commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the end of World War II:

• Tuesday, September 1: Copenhagen (2002), directed by Howard Davies; starring Stephen Rea, Daniel Craig, and Francesca Annis. An adaptation of the popular Michael Frayn stage-play based around a strange trip the German physicist Werner Heisenberg made to Copenhagen in 1941 to see his Danish counterpart Niels Bohr.
• Wednesday, September2: Wodehouse in Exile (2013), directed by Tim Fywell; starring Tim Pigott-Smith, Zoë Wanamaker, and Curran McKay. An intimate portrait of British humorist P.G. Wodehouse, who faced treason charges that prevented him from setting foot on English soil again.

And we end the month with a special lecture from David A. Goldfarb: The Jewish Presence and Absence in the Theater of Tadeusz Kantor on Wednesday, September 30. This event is presented in collaboriation with the Polish Cultural Institute of New York.

Please browse the many other interesting free classes, films, readings, and talks on our program calendar. Enjoy short story readings at Story Time for Grown-ups; Sherwood Anderson is the featured author for September. If you enjoy talking about books, come share your favorite books about New York with other readers at Open Book Night on Friday, September 11, or explore Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient at our Contemporary Classics Cook Discussion on Monday, September 14.

Looking forward to to seeing you soon at the library!