Book events
Book discussion and reading: “How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water” by Angie Cruz (Flatiron Books), associate professor of English
7 p.m. Sept. 13, City of Asylum Books, North Side
Cruz, author of the GMA Book Club Pick and Women's Prize Finalist “Dominicana,” will discuss her new book, “How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water,” which will be published on Sept. 13. In the book, Cara Romero thought she would work at the factory of little lamps for the rest of her life. But when, in her mid-50s, she loses her job in the Great Recession, she is forced back into the job market for the first time in decades. Set up with a job counselor, Cara instead begins to narrate the story of her life. Over the course of twelve sessions, Cara recounts her tempestuous love affairs, her alternately biting and loving relationships with her neighbor Lulu and her sister Angela, her struggles with debt, gentrification and loss, and, eventually, what really happened between her and her estranged son, Fernando. As Cara confronts her darkest secrets and regrets, we see a woman buffeted by life but still full of fight.
Author talk: “White Field, Black Sheep” with Daiva Markelis
7:30 p.m. Sept. 22, English Nationality Room (Cathedral of Learning 144)
Author Daiva Markelis, professor of English at Eastern Illinois University, was raised in the 1960s and 1970s in a Chicago immigrant household where Lithuanian was her first language. Her book "White Field, Black Sheep" explores this collision of old world and new. Come listen to the author speak of recreating the emotional world of adolescence and the hard-won understanding of adulthood with the poignancy of Lithuanian-American life.
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The University Times welcomes information about new books, journals, plays and musical compositions written or edited by faculty and staff.
Newly published works can be submitted through this link. Please keep the book descriptions short and accessible to a general audience.
Journals should be peer-reviewed. Self-published works will not be accepted. The listings also are restricted to complete works, because individual chapters, articles, works of art and poems would be too numerous.
We’ll also be highlighting some books and book talks with connections to Pitt.
If you have any questions, please contact editor Susan Jones at suejones@pitt.edu or 412-244-4042.