Book Launch: Alan Shapiro reads from his new novel Broadway Baby
Tue 1/24 7pm-8pm
Book Launch: Alan Shapiro reads from his new novel Broadway Baby
This darkly hilarious novel follows aspiring entertainer to young wife, to mother and aging stage mom, protagonist Miriam Bluestein (who continues to look at the world as if it were, indeed, all a stage). A story of her obsessive love, self-deception, and stage dreams which are more burden than blessing, this novel follows Miriam on and off Broadway. Shapiro captures her struggles with marriage, the war, and motherhood--all while chasing her endless obsessive dream of stardom.
Fans of the stage will devour Shapiro’s elegant portrayal of a stage mother who rivals the likes of Gypsy Rose, Ethel Gumm and Dina Lohan. As Stephen Sondheim famously said in his hit play Follies: “Broadway Baby/ Learning how to sing and dance/Waiting for that one big chance/to be in a show.”
Alan Shapiro is the author of ten volumes of poetry and two memoirs, one of which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He has received a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, a Lila Wallace–Reader’s Digest Writer’s Award, and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, among other honors. He currently teaches at UNC Chapel Hill.
As always, if you can't make the event call ahead and we'll have a copy signed for you.