Events

Raised by an opera singer and the family maid in Augusta, Georgia, Eli runs away with a draft dodger. When things don't go according to their plans, she must go live with her disc jockey and anit-war activist father in Webster Groves, Missouri, with a new wife and two young sons. Witnessing and sometimes participating in the protests, drug use, and musical fervor of the times, Eli learns about love, forgiveness, and survival.

Janet Kirchheimer is a poet whose work has appeared in a variety of publications both in the U.S. and abroad. Her moving collection of poems about the Holocaust, How to Spot One of Us, is described by author and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel as “poignant and evocative of times of darkness and despair. Their warmth is communicative and necessary.”

Clifton Taulbert will discuss education and his life, as well as signing books, at this special library event. Taulbert and his Building Community Institute are dedicated to ensuring organizational effectiveness at all levels and focusing on the power of community. He is the author of Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored, his autobiography of life in the segregated South, and Eight Habits of the Heart, which shows how to strengthen families, schools, and communities through a collection of exercises for reflection and practice.

Written with the same boldness and brilliance that made Buddhism Without Beliefs a classic in its field, Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist is Stephen Batchelor's account of his journey through Buddhism, which culminates in a groundbreaking new portrait of the historical Buddha. The more Batchelor read about the Buddha, the more he came to believe that the way Buddhism was being taught and practiced was at odds with the actual teachings of the Buddha himself. Charting his journey from hippie to monk to lay practitioner, teacher, and interpreter of Buddhist thought, Batchelor reconstructs the historical Buddha's life, locating him within the social and political context of the world, showing a man who looked at human life in a radically new way for his time.

From Ali Eteraz's schooling in a "madrassa" in Pakistan to his teenage years as a Muslim American in the Bible Belt, and back to Pakistan to find a pious Muslim wife, this lyrical, penetrating saga captures the heart of our universal quest for identity. Astonishingly honest, darkly comic, and beautifully told, Children of Dust is an extraordinary adventure that reveals the diversity of Islamic beliefs, the vastness of the Pakistani diaspora, and the very human search for home.  Ali Eteraz also writes the award-winning blog, Islamophere. This Medart Lecture Series event is free and open to the public and includes a 6:30pm reception and 7:00pm talk.

It seems unlikely that James Naismith, who grew up playing "Duck on the Rock" in the rural community of Almonte, Canada, would invent one of America's most popular sports. But Rob Rains and Hellen Carpenter's fascinating, in-depth biography, James Naismith: The Man Who Invented Basketball, shows how this young man--who wanted to be a medical doctor, or if not that, a minister (in fact, he was both)--came to create a game that has endured for over a century. Rob Rains is a former National League beat writer for USA Today's Baseball Weekly and for three years covered the St. Louis Cardinals for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. He is the author or co-author of autobiographies or biographies of Tony La Russa, Ozzie Smith, Mark McGwire, Jack Buck, Red Schoendienst, and many other sports celebrities. Hellen Carpenter is the granddaughter of James Naismith, and her more than 300 documents from Naismith's files were instrumental in crafting this biography. 

Jennifer Brown tackles another hard subject for teens in her novel, Hate List. After Valerie Leftman's boyfriend, Nick, opens fire on their school cafeteria, Val is shot trying to stop him, but is implicated in the shootings because of the list she helped create. Now, Val is forced to confront her guilt as she returns to school to complete her senior year. Jennifer Brown is the two-time winner of the Erma Bombeck Global Humor Award and a humor columnist for The Kansas City Star (winning the Missouri Writer's Guild 2008 Conference Award for Best Newspaper Column).

Tom Murphy's photographs reveal wildlife interacting with each other and with their envitronment in the wildest places on earth. At this seminar, he will share tips and information about the proper selection and use of camera equipment, compositional concepts and setting equipment for maximum impact and interest in wildlife photography, an overview of digital photography (including the do's and don'ts with memory cards and digital camera settings), and his own personal in-depth workflow procedures and effective systems to label and track all images. For more information or to register, visit www.stlcameraclub.com. 

River Styx at Duff's presents poetry readings by Shane Seely (author of The Snowbound House) and Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon (author of Black Swan). Admission is $5 at the door. Books will be available for purchase from Left Bank Books staff at Duff's. 

Illustrated with heavenly full-color paintings, this picture book for young children pays tribute to a child's imagination and independence and features an inquisitive and humorous text, making My Garden an ideal read-aloud to treasure. Author and illustrator Kevin Henkes was awarded the Caldecott Medal for Kitten's First Full Moon. He is the creator of several picture books and also writes for older children.

New York Times best-selling co-authors and best friends, Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant, who collaborated on Gotta Keep on Tryin' and What Doesn't Kill You, are back with a story as big as New York City itself, following a wealthy, prominent family caught in a storm of sexual scandal, secrets, betrayal, and politics. DeBerry and Grant fans will not be disappointed with this look into the high rolling, no holds barred world of NYC real estate development. Before becoming co-authors, both women worked as plus size models, careers that led to the opportunity to launch Maxima, a fashion and lifestyle magazine for plus size women. When the publication of Maxima ceased, they began their book writing relationship which turned into the most successful and enduring writing collaboration in African American fiction.

In The Politician, Andrew Young, a close aide and trusted friend to Senator John Edwards, offers a look at the trajectory which made John Edwards an ideal Democratic candidate for president, and the hubris which brought him down, leaving his career, his marriage, and his dreams in ashes. This KMOX/Fontbonne University Book Club with Charlie Brennan is a live broadcast on KMOX.

The event is free, but you must register to attend. Call (314)444.1827 or e-mail cwbrennan@cbs.com to register.

The Spellmans Strike Again is the final installment in the critically acclaimed, best-selling, Edgar-nominated series by Lisa Lutz featured the intrepid private investigator Izzy Spellman and her loveable--if somewhat paranoid--family. After writing the screenplay Plan B, a mob comedy made into a 2000 film, Lisa Lutz swore vowed to never write another screenplay, moving instead to novels and the odd Spellman family. Her uproarious Izzy Spellman mysteries will appeal to fans of Janet Evanovich. 

New York Times best-selling novelist Anne Perry has won widespread popular and critical acclaim for her Victorian mysteries, and now she turns to 13th-century Constantinople, Venice, and Rome in her new epic, historical novel, The Sheen on the Silk. On one level, a young woman risks everything to clear her brother's name. But she is not the only one at risk; the broader story captures the tensions between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches at a moment in history when any misstep could lead to a devastating crusade. 

An enduring mystery in Mark Twain's life concerns the events of his last decade, from 1900 to 1910. Despite many Twain biographies, no one has ever determined exactly what took place during those final years after the death of Twains wife of thirty-four  years and how those experiences affected him, personally and professionally. Laura Skandera Trombley, the preeminent Twain scholar at work today and president of Pitzer College, went in search of the one woman whom she suspected had played the largest role in Twain's life during those final years and who possibly held the answer to her questions about Twain's life and writings. Trombly tells the full story through Isabel Lyon's meticulous daily journals, the only detailed record of Twain's last years that exists, journals overlooked by Twain's previous biographers, in Mark Twain's Other Woman.

Join us in celebrating 11 1/2 years of Penny Arcade--the incrediby popular Web comic for and about gamers--as the creators, Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, present The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade. This collection includes anecdotes from the creators and commentary for well-known game-industry professionals. At this special event, Jerry and Mike will talk, do a Web comic demonstration, take questions from the audience, and autograph books--which are available from Left Bank Books before and at the event. Plus, Jerry, Mike, and a bunch of their friends will do an exhibit of Web comic art at Mad Art Gallery. Mad Art Gallery will also have a cash bar at this very cool all-in-one event.