Performance by this RC Prison Creative Arts Project instructor, who was incarcerated at age 17 and released just last year, after serving 18 years. His free verse poems explore the dehumanization of mass incarceration and poverty.
7 p.m. Espresso Royale, 324 S. State. $5 suggested donation. facebook.com/AnnArborPoetry.
Lecture by U-M Afroamerican and African studies professor and former RC director Angela Dillard.
4 p.m., Rackham Amphitheatre (4th floor). Free. 615-6667.
NYC-based writer (and Ann Arbor native) Brigit Young offers tips on revising your written work and how to get published. Q&A. In conjunction with the end of National Novel Writing Month, a nonprofit promotion challenging teens and adults to write a 50,000-word novel by the end of November.
6:30-8 p.m., AADL Westgate. Free. 327-4200.
Join us for an evening with New York Times Bestselling author, Kurt Eichenwald, an acclaimed and award-winning investigative journalist (The New York Times, Newsweek, Vanity Fair) and writer of bestselling books (Conspiracy of Fools, 500 Days, The Informant). He is known for his relentless investigations and exhaustive research. A MIND UNRAVELED: A Memoir utilizes the same approach—only this time, Eichenwald turns his journalistic lens on himself. He will personalize and sign any backlist copies.
Ticket Information
No tickets. Open seating, first come first served.
Event Details
Seating at the event will be first-come first-served. This event will be a standing-room crowd, so if you require a seat for medical reasons, please contact us in advance to make arrangements.
Praise for A MIND UNRAVELED: A Memoir
“This book will make me think differently as a doctor. Kurt Eichenwald is a tremendously talented writer. When you travel on his personal journey, it is pure gold.”
—Sanjay Gupta, MD, chief medical correspondent, CNN
“This powerful account provides an important blueprint for anyone struggling to overcome serious challenges.”
—Katie Couric
« “In this riveting personal narrative, best-selling Eichenwald (500 Days, 2012) tells his devastating story of suffering from epilepsy and waging a nearly lifelong battle against discrimination accorded those who endure this malady … Eichenwald has created a universal tale of resilience wrapped in a primal scream against the far-too-savage world. Book clubs will clamor for this tale of survival and call for compassion.”
—Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
« “[G]ripping … Meticulous but passionate, Eichenwald’s narrative is a suspenseful medical thriller about a condition that makes everyday life a mine field, a fierce indictment of a callous medical establishment, and an against-the-odds recovery saga. The result is a terrific memoir with a stinging critique of health care gone awry.”
—Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
About the Book
A MIND UNRAVELED is a deeply searing account of Eichenwald’s ongoing struggle with epilepsy. Diagnosed with the disorder as a teenager, Eichenwald details the abuses he faced while incapacitated post-seizure, the discrimination he fought that almost cost him his education and employment, and the darkest moments when he contemplated suicide as the only solution to ending his physical and emotional pain. He recounts how medical incompetence would have killed him but for the heroic actions of a brilliant neurologist and the friendship of two young men who assumed part of the burden of his struggle.
Over 3.4 million Americans (65 million worldwide) have been diagnosed with epilepsy, and many more cases go undiagnosed. While it is the fourth most common neurological disorder and affects people of all ages, it is a rarely discussed condition. A MIND UNRAVELED finally gives the attention epilepsy deserves and serves as an inspirational message for not only those afflicted with the condition, but also for anyone grappling with challenges they feel compelled to keep secret. Eichenwald shows how facing his own morality ultimately made him a stronger person, and that it is possible to rise from despair to the heights of unimagined success.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
KURT EICHENWALD is a New York Times bestselling author of four previous nonfiction books. His second, The Informant, was made into a movie starring Matt Damon and directed by Steven Soderbergh. In addition to his distinguished work as a senior writer at Newsweek and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, Eichenwald spent two decades as a senior writer at The New York Times, where he was a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He is also a two-time winner of the George Polk Award, as well as the winner of the Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism and an Emmy Award nominee. He lives in Dallas with his family.
One MFA student of fiction and one of poetry, each introduced by a peer, will read their work. The Mark Webster Reading Series presents emerging writers in a warm and relaxed setting. We encourage you to bring your friends – a Webster reading makes for an enjoyable and enlightening Friday evening.
Readings by U-M creative writing grad students, including prose by David Wade and poetry by Will Brewbaker and Talin Tahajian.
7 p.m., UMMA Auditorium, 525 S. State. Free. 764-6330.
Nov. 30 & Dec. 1. RC student Maddie Lukomski directs RC students in Tanya Barfield’s 2014 LAMBDA award-winning emotionally searing 2-character play about a deeply committed but ultimately doomed interracial lesbian relationship.
8 p.m., Keene Theatre, East Quad, 701 East University. Free; donations welcome. 763-0176.
Join us for a book signing featuring four acclaimed Michigan picture book authors! Maria Dismondy will be signing copies of her newest book, A Fruit Salad Friend, as well as her other popular back list titles. Lisa Wheeler is the author of the award-winning Dino-Sports series, as well as The Christmas Boot and her newest release A Hug is for Holding Me. They will be joined by Hindi and Hollywood film screenwriter Supriya Kelkar, who will be releasing her newest book The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh and Lisa Rose who will share her Star Powers books.
Nov. 30 & Dec. 1. RC student Maddie Lukomski directs RC students in Tanya Barfield’s 2014 LAMBDA award-winning emotionally searing 2-character play about a deeply committed but ultimately doomed interracial lesbian relationship.
8 p.m., Keene Theatre, East Quad, 701 East University. Free; donations welcome. 763-0176.
Storytelling by this New Jersey-based author and playwright, a Moth GrandSLAM winner whose stories have been featured on NPR and The Moth podcast. Hors d’oeuvres at 6 p.m. Reception and desserts.
6:30-9 p.m., EMU Sponberg Theatre, Quirk Hall, Ypsilanti. Tickets $18 (students, $10) at tinyurl.com/ycmyq7z5. 487-0978.
Literati is thrilled to welcome astrophysicist Adam Becker who will be presenting his new book What Is Real?: The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics
About What Is Real?:
The untold story of the heretical thinkers who dared to question the nature of our quantum universe
Every physicist agrees quantum mechanics is among humanity’s finest scientific achievements. But ask what it means, and the result will be a brawl. For a century, most physicists have followed Niels Bohr’s Copenhagen interpretation and dismissed questions about the reality underlying quantum physics as meaningless. A mishmash of solipsism and poor reasoning, Copenhagen endured, as Bohr’s students vigorously protected his legacy, and the physics community favored practical experiments over philosophical arguments. As a result, questioning the status quo long meant professional ruin. And yet, from the 1920s to today, physicists like John Bell, David Bohm, and Hugh Everett persisted in seeking the true meaning of quantum mechanics. What Is Real? is the gripping story of this battle of ideas and the courageous scientists who dared to stand up for truth.
Adam Becker is a science writer with a PhD in astrophysics. He has written for the BBC and New Scientist, and is a visiting scholar at University of California, Berkeley’s Office for History of Science and Technology. He lives in Oakland, California.
