Brooklyn Bookbeat: Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Strout to speak at Brooklyn By The Book

March 31, 2013 By Samantha Samel Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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Elizabeth Strout, bestselling author of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winner “Olive Kitteridge,” will be the next featured speaker at Brooklyn By The Book, a literary series curated by Community Bookstore and Congregation Beth Elohim. On Wednesday, April 3, Strout will read from her latest novel, “The Burgess Boys.”

“The Burgess Boys” chronicles the story of two brothers who move to Park Slope after growing up in a small town in Maine. The brothers struggle to face the implications of once-buried family secrets that surface after their nephew commits what is considered to be a hate crime. Strout weaves into her novel the complex themes of race and class.

At Wednesday’s event, Strout will discuss her work with Laurie Muchnick, books editor at Bloomberg News and president of the National Books Critics Circle. Brooklyn By The Book is a monthly series that originated last fall when Community Bookstore and Congregation Beth Elohim – two historic Park Slope institutions – recognized their shared desire to create a literary program that would serve their particular community.

Park Slope’s beloved Community Bookstore, founded in 1971, is one of Brooklyn’s oldest independent bookstores. Michele Filgate, the Bookstore’s events coordinator, told Brooklyn Daily Eagle that the aim of Brooklyn By The Book “is to provide a dynamic and exciting events program in Park Slope, and I think we’re doing that.”

The event begins at 7:30 p.m. Congregation Beth Elohim is located at 274 Garfield Place in Park Slope.