History of Walls

Everybody has a story to tell. Some of us have more than one. In 2005, author Jeannette Walls made an arresting contribution to the memoir trend with her book, The Glass Castle. Starting at age 3, she recounted the burns and scrapes, hunger pains and small joys of a childhood spent under the care of a rambling alcoholic and a head-in-the-clouds artist. For her latest book, Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel, Walls reaches further back through family history to honor the memory of her maternal grandmother, Lily Casey Smith, a self-made woman who survived the Depression, ran a ranch and held on to her spirit through natural disasters and personal tragedies. Tonight at Unity Temple on the Plaza (707 West 47th Street), Walls talks about her remarkable relations and what she has written about them. Twenty-six dollars buys two seats at the reading and one copy of Half Broke Horses. The event, sponsored by Rainy Day Books, begins at 7 p.m. Call 913-384-3126 for more information.

Thu., Jan. 7, 7 p.m., 2010