Afternoon Coffee Book Club

Join the Afternoon Coffee Book Club (formerly the Morning Coffee Book Club) where Scott Biegen, a PSPL Librarian (and English Teacher in a previous life), leads a book club meeting on Zoom. It will be BYOC (Bring Your Own Coffee) this year, but we'll have fun reading and discussing the works of a diverse group of women who bravely explore the concepts of solitude, isolation, disconnection and connection in one way or another.

The group meets the 3rd Wednesday of the month (September-May) on Zoom from 2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. (PST). To receive meeting information and join the email list for the Afternoon Coffee Book Club, please email Scott Biegen in advance of the meeting at scott.biegen@palmspringsca.gov

Click here to see other selections for the Afternoon Coffee Book Club.

December 16, 2020

In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri

—National Best Seller

From the best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize winner, a powerful nonfiction debut—an “honest, engaging, and very moving account of a writer searching for herself in words.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred)
 
In Other Words is a revelation. It is at heart a love story—of a long and sometimes difficult courtship, and a passion that verges on obsession: that of a writer for another language. For Jhumpa Lahiri, that love was for Italian, which first captivated and capsized her during a trip to Florence after college. Although Lahiri studied Italian for many years afterward, true mastery always eluded her.

Seeking full immersion, she decides to move to Rome with her family, for “a trial by fire, a sort of baptism” into a new language and world. There, she begins to read, and to write—initially in her journal—solely in Italian. In Other Words, an autobiographical work written in Italian, investigates the process of learning to express oneself in another language, and describes the journey of a writer seeking a new voice.

Presented in a dual-language format, this is a wholly original book about exile, linguistic and otherwise, written with an intensity and clarity not seen since Vladimir Nabokov: a startling act of self-reflection and a provocative exploration of belonging and reinvention.

Assisted Listening Devices (ALDs) are instruments designed to amplify sounds to make it easier for persons who are hearing‑impaired to enjoy a library program.

Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication, or a modification of policies or procedures to participate in a program, service, or activity of the City of Palm Springs, should contact the ADA Coordinator, as soon as possible but no later than 48 hours before the scheduled event.