Author Claire Messud with Kant's Little Prussian Head and Other Reasons Why I Write: An Autobiography in Essays

When:
Tuesday, Oct 20, 2020 6:00p -
7:00p

Where:
Online event
700 Boylston St
Boston, MA 02116

EventScheduled OnlineEventAttendanceMode

Admission:
FREE

Categories:
History, Lectures & Conferences, Virtual & Streaming

Event website:
https://bpl.bibliocommons.com/events/5f5a4bb6dce07c100e0e0363

Join the Boston Public Library and American Ancestors/New England Historic Genealogical Society, and the GBH Forum Network for an online talk with Claire Messud, author of Kant's Little Prussian Head and Other Reasons Why I Write: An Autobiography in Essays. Author Dani Shapiro will moderate the discussion, which is part of the American Stories, Inspiration Today series (https://www.americanancestors.org/american-inspiration-author-series). We kindly ask that people who are interested in attending please register at this link provided by the GBH Forum Network: https://wgbh.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_w1sp55HQSQGkNAmRNTxjzw.


In her fiction, Claire Messud “has specialized in creating unusual female characters with ferocious, imaginative inner lives” (Ruth Franklin, New York Times Magazine). Her new book Kant’s Little Prussian Head and Other Reasons Why I Write (W.W. Norton & Company; October 13, 2020) opens a window on Messud’s own life: a peripatetic upbringing; a warm, complicated family; and, throughout it all, her devotion to art and literature.


In twenty-nine intimate, brilliant, funny, and sharp essays, Messud reflects on a childhood move from her Connecticut home to Australia; the complex relationship between her modern Canadian mother and a fiercely single French Catholic aunt; and a trip to Beirut, where her pied-noir father had once lived, while he was dying. She meditates on Albert Camus, Teju Cole, and Valeria Luiselli, and tours her favorite paintings at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. Crafting a vivid portrait of a life in celebration of the power of literature, Messud proves once again “an absolute master storyteller” (Rebecca Carroll, Los Angeles Times).


Signed copies of Messud’s new book are available from our partners at Porter Square Books. Contact them through their website (https://www.portersquarebooks.com/) or over email ([email protected]) using the coupon code AMINSP20 and the book’s shipping fee will be waived.


Claire Messud is the author of six works of fiction. A recipient of Guggenheim and Radcliffe Fellowships and the Strauss Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, she lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her family.


Dani Shapiro is the author of five novels and five memoirs including the New York Times instant bestseller Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love. She teaches writing and is the creator and host of Family Secrets podcast, in collaboration with iHeartMedia.

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10/20/2020 18:00:00 10/20/2020 19:00:00 America/New_York Author Claire Messud with Kant's Little Prussian Head and Other Reasons Why I Write: An Autobiography in Essays Join the Boston Public Library and American Ancestors/New England Historic Genealogical Society, and the GBH Forum Network for an online talk with Claire Messud, author of Kant's Little Prussian He... ONLINE via Boston Public Library, Boston, MA 02116 false MM/DD/YYYY

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