Uptown at Night returns to the Members’ Room with a vibrant new lineup of humorous storytellers including Amy Chua, John Kenney, Ann Leary, and Alan Zweibel, with Brian Fitzsousa on keyboard. Sydney LeBlanc hosts. Wine and light refreshments will be served.
Amy Chua’s influential 2011 memoir, The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom, was a runaway international best seller. A distinguished professor at Yale Law School, she is also known for her groundbreaking nonfiction books that explore culture, law, parenting and global politics. Her writings have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and others. She recently published her first novel, The Golden Gate.
John Kenney is the author of two novels, Talk to Me and Truth in Advertising, which won the Thurber Prize for American Humor. His books of humorous poetry include Love Poems for Anxious People, Love Poems for People with Children, and Love Poems for Married People, a New York Times bestseller. He has also worked as a copywriter and is a frequent contributor to the New Yorker.
Ann Leary’s hilarious essay collection, I’ve Tried Being Nice, is the latest book by the New York Times bestselling author, whose other books include The Foundling, The Children, Outtakes from A Marriage, and the memoir An Innocent, A Broad. Her novel The Good House was adapted as a motion picture starring Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline. She has written for numerous publications including Ploughshares, NPR, and The New York Times.
Alan Zweibel, the legendary comedian and writer, began his career with Saturday Night Live in the 1970s. He has won multiple Emmy and Writers Guild of America awards for his television work and a Tony Award for his Broadway play 700 Sundays (co-created with Billy Crystal). His novel The Other Shulman won the Thurber Prize for American Humor; his memoir Laugh Lines recounts his remarkable career as America’s inimitable funny man.
Brian Fitzsousa is a pianist with the Metropolitan Opera. A composer and music director, he coaches and performs with opera, musical, cabaret and pop singers. He directs music and performs at venues including Joe’s Pub and Rockwood Music Hall. A graduate of NYU and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, he received fellowships from The European American Musical Alliance and the Rubin Institute for Music Criticism.
Sydney LeBlanc, a design writer turned humorist, founded Uptown at Night in 2016. Her design books have been published by W.W. Norton and Rizzoli, and her articles on contemporary architecture have appeared in The New York Times, Dwell, and other publications. She frequently reads her humorous short stories at the Library’s "Live from the Library" events. Learn more about Uptown at Night at uptownatnight.org.
The Writing Life events in 2024 are generously underwritten by Jenny Lawrence.
