City Boy Speaks

There’s no shortage of romantic stereotypes when it comes to authors: the misunderstood alcoholic, the quill-holding Victorian, the no-longer-publishing New Hampshire recluse. These stock characters probably exist because the truth — that writers spend endless hours staring out windows and agonizing over commas — is kind of dull. But in an attempt to dispel those nasty rumors, the Kansas City, Missouri, Public Library and UMKC’s English Department present “Writers at Work,” an ongoing reading series that features authors discussing their recent and in-progress projects. Edmund White, the latest guest in the series, reads from and discusses his new memoir, City Boy, at 6:30 tonight at the Central Library (14 West 10th Street). City Boy focuses on White’s life in New York City in the 1960s and ’70s and his early days as a writer. A 6 p.m. reception precedes the reading. RSVP online at kclibrary.org/rsvp/7912 or call 816-701-3407 or. Leave your drunken, reclusive, Victorian friends at home. They won’t fit in.

Mon., Feb. 22, 6:30 p.m., 2010