Annual Friends of the Rare Book Room Lecture: Writing the Body

Date: April 23, 2014

Time: 5:30 PM Lecture at 6:00p.m.; light refreshments at 5:30 p.m.

Special reception and exhibit for current Friends of the Rare Book Room immediately following the lecture.

Speakers: Bill Hayes

Location: The New York Academy of Medicine, 1216 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street, New York, NY 10029

As the New York Times has noted, “Bill Hayes has an unusual set of skills: part science writer, part memoirist, part culture explainer.” The author of three works of narrative nonfiction as well as numerous essays for the Times and other publications, he has gone to unusual lengths in pursuit of his subjects. Hayes spent a year studying anatomy alongside medical students for his acclaimed book The Anatomist: A True Story of Gray’s Anatomy and he is now at work on a history of exercise, titled Sweat, for which he is delving into the life of 16th-century physician and early exercise advocate Girolamo Mercuriale. For the 2014 Friends of the Library lecture, Hayes will retrace his steps in researching his books and discuss the varying approaches he has taken in writing about the human body.

About the Speakers

The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in nonfiction 2013-14, Bill Hayes is a frequent contributor to The New York Times and the author of three books: Sleep Demons: An Insomniac’s Memoir; Five Quarts: A Personal and Natural History of Blood; and The Anatomist: A True Story of Gray’s Anatomy. He is currently at work on two new books, both to be published by Bloomsbury USA/UK: Sweat: A History of Exercise, and Insomniac City, a collection of his essays about New York. Together with the Guggenheim, he was recently awarded a grant from the Leon Levy Foundation. Hayes has served as a guest lecturer at Stanford, NYU, UCSF, and at the Bay Area History of Medicine Club, and has taught writing workshops at UCSF Medical School and The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. He lives in New York City.

Registration Information

Cost: Free, but advanced registration is required

via Annual Friends of the Rare Book Room Lecture: Writing the Body.