Out Loud! Author Series wraps up 2012 edition with science scribe Sam Kean

Announcements

The final event of the 2012 edition of Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series will feature bestselling science writer Sam Kean.  The presentation, which is free and open to the public with no tickets required, will take place on Friday, July 13, at 7 p.m. at the Hotel at Kirkwood Center.

The Out Loud! Author Series is a program of the Cedar Rapids, Marion, and Hiawatha Public Libraries.

 

Kean is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Disappearing Spoon—an anecdotal investigation into the periodic table of elements—which was also a runner-up for the Royal Society’s book of the year for 2011. His work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Mental Floss, Slate, and New Scientist, and has been featured on NPR’s Radiolab and All Things Considered.

His newest book, The Violinist’s Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code, brings humor and insight, as well as quirky and intriguing stories, to an investigation of our DNA. Structured so that each chapter is the answer to a single question, the book starts in the microbial past and culminates in the emergence of modern human beings with an eye on the uncertainties of the future.

The Out Loud! Author Series has partnered with the Iowa City Book Festival to present Kean, who will also appear at the festival on Saturday, July 14. More information about the Iowa City Book Festival can be found at www.iowacitybookfestival.org.

Kean’s Out Loud! presentation will also include a drawing for three $50 Barnes & Noble gift cards for attendees as well as a drawing for two NookColor e-readers. Everyone who has entered at any Out Loud! event this year is eligible to win one of the e-readers.

Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series is supported by the Giacoletto Foundation with media support from The Gazette and event book sales provided by Barnes & Noble Booksellers.

More information about the Out Loud! Author Series can be found at www.metrolibrarynetwork.org/outloud. Kean’s web site can be found at www.samkean.com.