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Join us as we discuss nonfiction titles.
In One Summer, Bill Bryson, one of our greatest and most beloved nonfiction writers, transports readers on a journey back to one amazing season in American life.
The summer of 1927 began with one of the signature events of the twentieth century. On May 21, 1927, Charles Lindbergh became the first man to cross the Atlantic by plane nonstop, and when he landed at an airfield near Paris, he ignited an explosion of worldwide rapture, and instantly became the most famous person on the planet. Meanwhile, the talented Babe Ruth broke the home run record when he hit 60 home runs in a single season. The American South was clobbered by unprecedented rain and by flooding of the Mississippi basin, a great human disaster, the relief efforts for which were guided by Herbert Hoover. Calvin Coolidge interrupted an already leisurely presidency for a three-month vacation in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The gangster Al Capone tightened his grip on the illegal booze business through a murderous reign of terror and municipal corruption. The first “talking picture,” Al Jolson’s The Jazz Singer, was filmed and changed the motion picture industry. The four most powerful central bankers on earth met in a secret session on a Long Island estate and made a fateful decision that virtually guaranteed a future crash and depression.
Bill Bryson captures the outsized personalities, exciting events, and occasional weirdness with his trademark vividness, eye for detail, and delicious humor. In that year America stepped out onto the world stage as the main event, and One Summer transforms it all into narrative nonfiction of the highest order.
Located in Hoover, Alabama, at 200 Municipal Drive, the Hoover Public Library has been operating since 1983. The Hoover Public Library seeks to reinvent the way communities view libraries. As the heart and soul of the Hoover community, we are more than just a library. We’re the place you come to meet your friends, experience live theater, peruse art, listen to music, entertain your children, learn about new technology, seek job searching assistance, explore your interests, find good book recommendations and much, much more. We seek to grow our patronage by offering an unparalleled customer experience.