Thursday, September 4 — 7 p.m.
BRAM DIJKSTRA
Slide lecture by Bram Dijkstra, distinguished cultural historian and author of American Expressionism: Art and Social Change, 1920-1950. Dijkstra shows how American art produced between the two world wars—led by WPA artists mainly from immigrant backgrounds—is great art with a social content.

Tuesday, September 9 — 7 p.m.
EMBERS, A Staged Reading
Told through a series of 76 poems, Terry Wolverton’s new novel, Embers, is the story of Marie Girard, whose soul is trapped in Purgatory. Actors will bring to life the many voices within the story in staged excerpts of the larger work.

Tuesday, September 16 — 7 p.m.
JEFFREY EUGENIDES
Jeff Eugenides discusses and reads from Middlesex: A Novel. Winner of this year’s Pulitzer Prize in fiction, Middlesex tells the breathtaking story of three generations of the Stephanides family. The New York Times hailed it as “A deeply affecting portrait of one family’s tumultuous engagement with the American twentieth century.”

Wednesday, September 17 — 7 p.m.
MAXINE HONG KINGSTON
Maxine Hong Kingston, author of The Woman Warrior, discusses her new novel The Fifth Book of Peace. Weaving together fact, fiction, and memory—her new book moves through tragedy to peace of both mind and heart. Library Associates membership reception will follow in the Children’s Courtyards.

Saturday, September 20 and Sunday, September 21 — 3 p.m.
LORETTA LIVINGSTON & DANCERS
READ THE BONES, a dance performance with live music by Robin Cox, video art by Kate Johnson and lighting design by Russell Pyle. Inspired by Jud Fine's art plan "Spine," located in the Maguire Gardens at Central Library. READ THE BONES explores a variety of ideas embedded in the steps, pools, wells and spouts found throughout the garden. Tickets: General Admission $8.00, Library Associates and Students with I.D. $6.00 payable at the door, cash or check only.

Monday, September 22 — 7 p.m.
WILLIAM OUCHI
In Making Schools Work: A Revolutionary Plan to Get Your Children the Education They Need, management consultant William G. Ouchi draws on a comprehensive study of 223 schools in six cities. He argues that management and accountability are at the heart of the educational crisis.

Wednesday, September 24 — 7 p.m.
WRITING THE COLD WAR: JAMES CARROLL in conversation with AIMEE LIU
In his new novel, Secret Father, National Book Award winner Carroll offers a classic story of espionage and love set in Soviet-controlled Berlin in 1961. Aimee Liu’s Flash House, a Cold War intrigue set in Central Asia, centers on a journalist’s wife on a quest to rescue her missing husband.

Tuesday, September 30 — 7 p.m.
JANE LEAVY
Sportswriter Jane Leavy discusses Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy. Slugger Willie Stargell once likened hitting against Koufax to “trying to drink coffee with a fork.” Leavy offers an honest and richly drawn account of an often-misunderstood yet greatly celebrated athlete.

Wednesday, October 1 — 7 p.m.
JHUMPA LAHIRI
Jhumpa Lahiri reads and discusses The Namesake. Lahiri brings to her first novel the remarkable powers of emotion and insight that illuminated The Interpreter of Maladies, her Pulitzer Prize-winning story collection. Here she enriches her signature themes: the immigrant experience, the clash of cultures, the conflicts of assimilation, and the tangled relationships between generations.

Tuesday, October 7 — 7 p.m.
PAUL KRUGMAN
Paul Krugman, provocative New York Times columnist, discusses The Great Unraveling: Losing Our Way in the New Century. Showing how the boom economy unraveled and fiscal responsibility collapsed, America’s leading economic critic offers a road map to get the country back on track.

Wednesday, October 8 — 7 p.m.
THE GUERRILLA GIRLS
A performance by The Guerrilla Girls, the “Fun-Guard of feminism” (London Times). Their new book, Bitches, Bimbos and Ballbreakers: The Guerrilla Girls’ Illustrated Guide to Female Stereotypes traces the maze of stereotypes that follow women from the cradle to the grave.

Wednesday, October 15 — 7 p.m.
RICK ATKINSON
Rick Atkinson discusses An Army at Dawn: The War in Africa, 1942-1943, Volume One of the Liberation Trilogy. This fascinating story of the North African campaign was awarded the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in history. Central to this tale are the extraordinary but flawed commanders who dominated the battlefield: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley, Montgomery, and Rommel.

Thursday, October 16 — 7 p.m.
SCOTT TUROW
Novelist Scott Turow—a respected criminal lawyer—discusses a fundamental dilemma in our democracy in his new nonfiction book, Ultimate Punishment: A Lawyer’s Reflections on Dealing with the Death Penalty. Turow recently served on the Illinois commission, which influenced Governor George Ryan’s unprecedented commutation, on his last day in office, of the sentences of 164 death row inmates.

Monday, October 20 — 7 p.m.
NAKED IN BAGHDAD: THE IRAQ WAR AS SEEN BY NPR’S CORRESPONDENT ANNE GARRELS
One of only sixteen journalists who stayed in the now-legendary Palestine Hotel in Baghdad throughout the American invasion, Garrels was uniquely placed to describe our latest war. Award-winning journalist Tracy Wood, one of the few women combat correspondents to cover the Vietnam War, joins her in conversation.

Thursday, October 23 — 7 p.m.
WRITING THE LIVES OF PRESIDENTS: A PANEL DISCUSSION
Two distinguished presidential biographers — Joyce Appleby (Thomas Jefferson), Emerita Professor of History at UCLA, and H.W. Brands (Woodrow Wilson), distinguished Professor of History at Texas A&M University discuss the problems, responsibilities and joys of illuminating presidential lives. Moderated by John F. Cooke, Chairman of the Board, Library Foundation of Los Angeles.

Tuesday, October 28 — 7 p.m.
CARLA KAPLAN
USC Professor of English, Carla Kaplan discusses Zora Neale Hurston: A Life in Letters. A penetrating portrait of the life, writings, and impressive imagination of a woman at the heart of the Harlem Renaissance—one of the most brilliant contributors to American letters.