Deschutes Public Library is pleased to welcome University of Oregon professor William Rossi to the East Bend Public Library on Thursday, April 19^th at 6:30 p.m. and to the Sunriver Area Public Library on Friday, April 20^th at 1:00 p.m. for a presentation “Thoreau Worked at Walden?” as part of the 2011 A Novel Idea …. Read Together community wide reading project. Both programs are free and open to the public.

University of Oregon professor of English William Rossi will discuss why Henry Thoreau’s Walden, much like Moby Dick and Uncle Tom’s Cabin, is known by many but read by few. For Americans, why does no other nineteenth-century writer come to mind prepackaged with a myth that makes his book less likely to be read than Thoreau?

This year’s Novel Idea selection, Rules of Civility, by Amor Towles, delves into the world of Katey Kontent, a young woman living in New York City, 1938. Throughout the course of that singular year in their lives, influenced in part by the writings of Thoreau, Katey and her friends discover what it means to live authentic lives in a world on the verge of change.

For more information about Novel Idea programs, please visit the library website at www.deschuteslibrary.org/events/novelidea/ or call Lisa McGean at 541/312-1034. People with disabilities needing accommodations (alternative formats, seating or auxiliary aides) should contact Lisa at 541/312-1034.