Book Discussion Group, Online: WNYC Book Club: 'Lazarus Man' by Richard Price at the Harry Belafonte 115th Street Library

Reading keeps us connected. Join us for a neighborhood book club at the Harry Belafonte 115th Street Library! 

The New York Public Library continues partnering with WNYC to present a book club experience! Each month, we will read a new title leading up to a live conversation, in-person or online, with the author and All of It host Alison Stewart. 

This book club will take place ONLINE  at the Harry Belafonte 115th Street Library.   

The New York Public Library and WNYC—two indispensable New York institutions—are partnering to host a book club that brings New Yorkers together and fosters community.

The January title is Richard Price's Lazarus Man, a bravura portrait of a community on the edge of disintegration. Rich with indelible characters and high drama, Lazarus Man is a riveting work of suspense and social vision by one of our greatest writers.

East Harlem, 2008. In an instant, a five-story tenement collapses into a fuming hill of rubble, pancaking the cars parked in front and coating the street with a thick layer of ash. As the city’s rescue services and media outlets respond, the surrounding neighborhood descends into chaos. By day’s end, six bodies have been recovered but many of the other tenants are missing.

It's here we find intertwining portraits of a group of compelling and singular characters whose lives are permanently affected by the disaster. Anthony Carter—whose miraculous survival transforms him into a man with a message and a passionate sense of mission. Felix Pearl—a young transplant to the city whose photography and film work that day provoke in this previously unformed soul a sharp sense of personal destiny. Royal Davis—the owner of a failing Harlem funeral home whose desperate trolling of the scene for potential customers triggers a change of heart and a quest to find another path in life. And Mary Roe—a veteran city detective, driven in part by her own family’s brutal history, who becomes obsessed with finding one of the building’s missing.

Throughout the month, All of It host Alison Stewart and the Library will accompany readers, providing touchpoints on-air and on social media at @allofitwnyc and @nypl. Borrow the book (and more than 300,000 others) for free through the Library’s e-reader app SimplyE, available for iOS and Android devices.

Don't forget to register to join Alison Stewart along with the author and readers everywhere for a live conversation, in-person or online, on Tuesday January 28, 2025, from 6 - 7 PM. 

Join our neighborhood book club. Here's how it works:

GET THE BOOK   

• Borrow: NYPL Catalog
• E-Book app: SimplyE, available on iOS and Android
• Purchase: The Library Shop — proceeds benefit The New York Public Library
• To see all of our previous WNYC Get Lit titles check out our book club page here!

ACCESSIBILITY NOTES

If you find it hard to read standard print, The New York Public Library’s Andrew Heiskell Library provides free access to talking books, talking book players, braille, a talking book download website and a free talking book and e-braille app for mobile devices. Learn more and apply.

Note: DB = available on BARD in talking book format and as a mailable talking book. Some titles are available through Bookshare and can be found through the Bookshare (BK) link under that title. All Heiskell members can gain access to Bookshare for free. DB (digital talkingbook) / BK (Bookshare)

Please email adultprogramming@nypl.org with any accessibility questions or requests.

Don't have a New York Public Library card? Get one here!

Register above with your email address to attend this book club on Wednesday, January 29th at 1 PM.