Book Talks
Thursday, May 15, 2008, 6:00 PM The American Resting Place: Four Hundred Years of History Through Our Cemeteries and Burial Grounds Marilyn Yalom This event is at the Rabb Lecture Hall, Boston Public Library Copley Square Branch, 700 Boylston Street In her illustrated lecture, cultural historian Marilyn Yalom will offer a glimpse into our religious, ethnic, and deeply human history as Americans by sharing examples of burial grounds, cemeteries, and funeral customs from different regions of the country over the course of the past 400 years. Marilyn Yalom is the author of Birth of the Chess Queen: A History and A History of the Wife. In 1997, she spoke at the Boston Athenæum about her book A History of the Breast. Founded in 1831, Mount Auburn Cemetery is America’s first landscaped cemetery and a National Historic Landmark. Visit their website: http://www.mountauburn.org/ This event is free and open to the public.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008, at 6:00 p.m. The Man Who Wrote Frankenstein John Lauritsen John Lauritsen’s new book, The Man Who Wrote Frankenstein disintegrates the Mary Shelley myth, demonstrating that Frankenstein is not just a scary story, but a work of profound and radical ideas. The conventional belief is that Frankenstein was written by the young Mary Shelley, who took part in a ghost-story contest in Geneva. In his book, John Lauritsen posits that Frankenstein was written by one of the greatest poets in the English Language, who deliberately concealed his authorship. Boston Athenæum member John Lauritsen studied English Literature and Social Relations at Harvard. A retired market research analyst, his writings have won him an international reputation. There is no fee for this event
Tuesday, June 24, 2008, at 12:00 noon Cost: A Novel Roxana Robinson In her latest novel, Roxana Robinson tackles the subject of addiction, exploring its effects on the bonds of family bringing her hallmark precision to the evocation of the emotional interiors of her characters. The result is a work in which the reader’s sense of discovery and compassion for every character remains unflagging to the end. Roxana Robinson is the author of three novels and two short-story collections. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, and Vogue. She has taught creative writing at several colleges, most recently at the New School in New York. Ms. Robinson’s fiction has been compared to that of John Cheever, by The New York Times, and that of Edith Wharton, by Newsweek; Jonathan Yardley, of the Washington Post, says “Robinson is one of our best writers. There is no fee for this event.

EVENT	RESERVE BY	FEE
May 15, 6:00 PM Boston Public Library Marilyn Yalom The American Resting Place: Four Hundred Years of History Through Our Cemeteries and Burial Grounds	Reservations are not necessary.	There is no fee for this event.
June 10, 12:00 Noon Mameve Medwed Of Men and Their Mothers: A Novel	May 8 617-720-7600	There is no fee for this event.
June 17, 6:00 p.m. John Lauritsen The Man Who Wrote Frankenstein	May 20 617-720-7600	There is no fee for this event.
June 24, 12:00 Noon Roxana Robinson Cost	May 13 617-720-7600	There is no fee for this event.