Saturday, December 15, 2012
Amy Bloom, Amy Waldman wrote novels that increase our cultural awareness, according to Laura Adler, readers’ services assistant at the Des Plaines Public Library.
The following information was submitted by Laura Adler, readers’ services assistant at the Des Plaines Public Library. An author I admire, Amy Bloom, once said that fiction writers who attempt to change public opinion or promote a cause with their work don't write good fiction. She's not alone in this belief, which is understandable: fiction paved with good intentions is often potholed with propaganda, and the reader’s journey is bumpy with authorial heavy-handedness. That said, Bloom nevertheless wrote a short story called Silver Water that is not only brilliant but also highlights the heartbreaking and sometimes deadly consequences of our flawed healthcare system. This is not done by editorializing but through storytelling and complex …
Friday, September 28, 2012
Book discussion at the Des Plaines library about Chicago author Alex Kotlowitz’s “There Are No Children Here” on Oct. 11.
The following information was submitted by Laura Adler of Readers’ Services at the Des Plaines Public Library. Books can be a great escape from the stress and turmoil of the world, but some books do more than that. Some books are so powerful that they inform the way we see the world and the people in it ever after. One such book is There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz. Published in 1991, There Are No Children Here is a nonfiction account of two brothers growing up poor in Chicago’s Henry Horner Homes, a dangerous public housing complex in which mothers feared their children might not live to see eighteen. We’ll discuss at the library at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 11. You can register for the book discussion online or at the third …
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Not that it's a competition or anything.
This week’s column was submitted Laura Adler, of the Readers’ Services department at the Des Plaines Public Library. When I was in my teens and in thrall of all things New York, I just assumed the New York Philharmonic was the greatest orchestra in the U.S. My mother, a violin teacher and Chicago Symphony Orchestra subscriber since her music school days, set me straight. "The Chicago Symphony's considered the greatest orchestra in the country," my mother told me. "Really?" I said. "Yes,” she said. "Huh," I said. I wondered if perhaps my mother, a longtime CSO attendee, was biased. I wondered if this was an attempt to sell me on the merits of Chicago when I was intent on moving to New York City. In my defense, I was young, more …
