More information about this week's events. All events Central Time. All events virtual for now.
Monday, May 17, 7 pm
Nicholas D Hayes, author of
Frank Lloyd Wright's Forgotten House: How an Omission Transformed the Architect's Legacy
in Conversation with Catherine Boldt
Register for the event here.
The Shorewood Public Library, Shorewood Historical Society, and Boswell present Nicholas D Hayes for a conversation about his latest book, which chronicles an oft-overlooked part of Lloyd Wright’s architectural legacy - his forays into affordable housing. In conversation with Frank Lloyd Wright scholar Catherine Boldt. Hayes is also the author of
Saving Sailing and is a columnist for
Sailing Magazine. He leads innovation at a water technology company.
While the grandiosity of Fallingwater and elegance of Taliesin are recognized near universally, Frank Lloyd Wright’s work on his American System-Built Homes is less appreciated. The project fell apart following wartime shortages and disputes between the architect and his developer. While continuing to advocate for the design of affordable small homes, Wright never spoke publicly of ASBH. As a result, the heritage of many Wright-designed homes was forgotten, like the home in question in Shorewood, whose legacy was temporarily misplaced in the 1970s.
Bobby Tanzilo talked to Nicholas D Hayes in
OnMilaukee: Tanzilo called
Frank Lloyd Wright's Forgotten House "a book that is part history, part home restoration, part architecture, part memoir and a work much more monumental than its slim size might suggest. Such a readable, personal and deep-diving work about a local Wright house hasn’t been written in years, if ever."
Tuesday, May 18, 7 pm
Linda Rui Feng, author of
Swimming Back to Trout River
In conversation with Ji Hao, Claudia Ross, and Daniel Goldin
Register for the event here
Linda Rui Feng, Professor of Chinese Cultural History at the University of Toronto, chats about her new book, a lyrical novel set against the backdrop of China’s Cultural Revolution. This is a novel that’s won over the critics (starred reviews from
Kirkus and
Booklist) and booksellers alike. She'll talk to Ji Hao and Claudia Ross of the College of the Holy Cross Chinese Studies program, as well as Boswell bookseller Daniel Goldin.
How did this event come together? Why is Boswell working with Holy Cross professors? As you probably can guess, most of the folks in my family are voracious readers. Being that my sister Claudia is a Professor of Chinese Studies, we often share our thoughts about books written by Chinese and Chinese American writers, both fiction and nonfiction. After finishing and enjoying my copy of
Swimming Back to Trout River, I sent to her, knowing that she would particularly enjoy the author's thoughts on Language and translation. And then I did a little more research and found out that my sister's colleague and friend Ji Hao had hosted Linda Rui Feng for a conference called "Love and Desire in Premodern China" at Holy Cross several years ago. And so the connections were already there.
1986 in a small Chinese village, ten-year-old Junie receives a letter from her parents who had left for America years ago: her father promises to return home and collect her by her twelfth birthday. But Junie’s growing determination to stay in the idyllic countryside with her beloved grandparents threatens to derail her family’s shared future. What Junie doesn’t know is that her parents, Momo and Cassia, are newly estranged from one another in their adopted country, each holding close private tragedies and histories from the tumultuous years of their youth during China’s Cultural Revolution.
Wednesday, May 19, 7 pm
Jerry Enzler, author of
Jim Bridger: Trailblazer of the American West
in conversation with Douglas Brinkley
Register for this event here
Boswell hosts an evening of conversation featuring Jerry Enzler, former Founding Director of the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, for his biography of the iconic frontiersman and mountain man of the American West,
Jim Bridger. For this event, Enzler will be in conversation with historian Douglas Brinkley, Professor of History at Rice University, contributor to
Vanity Fair, CNN's official historian and author of books such as
American Moonshot and
The Wilderness Warrior.
Even among iconic frontiersmen like John C Frémont, Kit Carson, and Jedediah Smith, Jim Bridger stands out. Straddling the fur trade era and the age of exploration, Bridger lived the life legends are made of. In a biography that finally gives this outsize character his due, Enzler taps newly discovered sources and takes this frontiersman’s full measure for the first time and tells a story that would do Jim Bridger proud.
Of the new book, Candy Moulton writes in
Historynet: "Enzler lays out Bridger’s life chronologically and with the right amount of detail to take full measure of the legendary figure. This biography should be on the bookshelf of anyone interested in the fur trade and early era of overland travel."
Thursday, May 20, 7 pm
Barrett Swanson, author of
Lost in Summerland: Essays
in Conversation with Steven Wright
Register for this event here
Madison-based (and former metro Milwaukeean) essayist Barrett Swanson chats about his debut book of reportage, in which he embarks on a personal quest across the United States to uncover what it means to be an American amid the swirl of our post-truth climate. Swanson's essays have appeared in
Harper's,
The New Yorker, and the
Paris Review, and he's been anthologized in two editions of
Best American Travel Writing. He’ll chat with Steven Wright, author of the novel
The Coyotes of Carthage. Cohosted by Friends of the Milwaukee Public Library.
Traversing the country, Swanson introduces us to a new reality. At a moment when grand unifying narratives have splintered into competing storylines, these critically acclaimed essays document the many routes by which people are struggling to find stability in the aftermath of our country’s political and economic collapse, sometimes at dire and disillusioning costs.
From
Publishers Weekly: “Journalist Swanson investigates in his searching debut what he sees as America’s pervasive spiritual restlessness and alienation. In probing his central concern of how American communities cope with and find meaning in the wake of “national turmoil or geopolitical crisis,” Swanson mixes in personal stories about his own search for greater fulfillment."
And don't forget next week!
Mary Alice Monroe, author of
The Summer of Lost and Found
in conversation with Margy Stratton
Monday, May 24, 7 pm
$5 tickets for the event here. Upgrade to ticket-with-book for $28 plus sales tax and ticket fee.
Friends and Fiction fans rejoice! The Lynden Sculpture Garden's Women's Speaker Series, sponsored by Milwaukee Reads and Boswell Book Company, welcome Mary Alice Monroe back to Milwaukee for a virtual, BYOS (bring-your-own-snacks) event for her latest novel, the latest in her
New York Times bestselling
Beach House series. $5 from each ticket is donated back to the Lynden Sculpture Garden.
This tender and compassionate novel follows the historic Rutledge family of Charleston, South Carolina as they face a summer of upheaval and change with perseverance, a spirit of unity, and a dose of humor, discovering unexpected joys and lessons that will endure long past the season. Monroe once again delves into the complexities of family relationships and brings her signature sensitive storytelling to this poignant and timely novel of love, courage, and resilience.
More on the
Boswell upcoming event page.
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