CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY

Ashley Prentice Norton

DATE: Monday, September 24th, 2012

TIME: 6:00 PM

LOCATION: Harold Washington Library - Cindy Pritzker Auditorium 

ABOUT: 

Join us as Ashley Prentice Norton discusses and signs copies of her new book titled The Chocolate Money.

Set in 1980s Chicago and on the East Coast, this electric debut chronicles the relationship between an impossibly rich chocolate heiress, Babs Ballentyne, and her sensitive and bookish young daughter, Bettina. Babs plays by no one’s rules: naked Christmas cards, lavish theme parties with lewd installations at her Lake Shore Drive penthouse, nocturnal visits from her married lover, who “admires her centerfold” while his wife sleeps at their nearby home. Bettina wants nothing more than to win her mother’s affection and approval, both of which prove elusive.

As funny as it is scandalous, The Chocolate Money is Mommie Dearest, Prep, and 50 Shades of Gray all rolled into one compulsively readable book!

Seating is limited and available first come, first served. Reservations are not required. Books are available for purchase at this event and Ms. Norton will autograph books at the conclusion of the program.

Chariots of Fire: Summer Reads Movie Night

DATE: Wednesday, July 25th

TIME: 6:00 PM

LOCATION: Harold Washington Library - Cindy Pritzker Auditorium

ABOUT: Chariots of Fire tells the fact-based story of two English runners that were both driven by different means to win the Olympics. One used his faith in God, and the other his hatred of Anti-Semitism. Acclaimed when released and winner of four Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Original Score, the film is considered a modern classic. It tells the story of Eric Liddell and Harold Maurice Abrahams. This screening celebrates running and runners, and the opening of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

It features Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Nigel Havers, Cheryl Campbell, Alice Krige and Lindsay Anderson. This film will be shown on the big screen in the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium. (1981, 124 min., dvd projection)

This program is a You Are What You Read: Summer Reads for Adults program, made possible with support from the Chicago Public Library Foundation.

Reservations are not required.

Click here for more information. 

David Maraniss: Book Signing And Discussion Of “Barack Obama: The Story”

DATE: Wednesday, July 11th

TIME:  6:00 PM

LOCATION: Harold Washington Library

ABOUT: David Maraniss joins us to discuss and autograph copies of his new book titled Barack Obama: The Story. Barack Obama:

The Story, David Maraniss has written a deeply reported generational biography teeming with fresh insights and revealing information, a masterly narrative drawn from hundreds of interviews, including with President Obama in the Oval Office, and a trove of letters, journals, diaries, and other documents.

The book unfolds in the small towns of Kansas and the remote villages of western Kenya, following the personal struggles of Obama’s white and black ancestors through the swirl of the twentieth century. It is a roots story on a global scale, a saga of constant movement, frustration and accomplishment, strong women and weak men, hopes lost and deferred, people leaving and being left. Disparate family threads converge in the climactic chapters as Obama reaches adulthood and travels from Honolulu to Los Angeles to New York to Chicago, trying to make sense of his past, establish his own identity, and prepare for his political future.

David Maraniss, an associate editor at The Washington Post, is the author of critically acclaimed best-selling books on Bill Clinton, Vince Lombardi, Vietnam and the sixties, Roberto Clemente, and the 1960 Rome Olympics. He won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of Clinton, was part of a Post team that won the 2007 Pulitzer for coverage of the Virginia Tech tragedy. He lives in Washington, D.C. and Madison, Wisconsin.

Books by David Maraniss are available for purchase at this event. Seating is limited and available on a first come, first served basis. Registration is not required.

Click here for more information. 

Chinese Tai Chi Workshop

DATE: Tuesday, July 12th

TIME:  4:30 PM

LOCATION: Lincoln Belmont, 1659 W. Melrose Street

ABOUT: Join the Chicago Chinese Cultural Institute and a tai chi master of Handan College in China to learn about this centuries old Chinese martial arts form. Tai chi are two different words, with two separate meanings. The word tai “太”means “great” and “Chi” “极”means the “ultimate energy” or “great system.” Therefore, tai chi is about generating energy through movement. Kids will learn some of the 2,500 year history of tai chi and even join the Master to learn some basic movements!

For children age 7 and up; children under 7 must be accompanied by an adult.

Click here for more information.