Award-winning author Marge Piercy will read from her highly acclaimed novel, Sex Wars: A Novel of Gilded Age New York, and present a talk on the writing of her book. In a sprawling fictionalized history, Sex Wars unfolds through the alternating viewpoints of various historical figures including Victoria Woodhull, notorious advocate of sexual freedom and candidate for President of the United States; Anthony Comstock, feared morals crusader who fought to eliminate sexual expression; and the free thinking suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Marge Piercy is the author of seventeen novels, eighteen volumes of poetry, and a critically acclaimed memoir. Educated at the University of Michigan, the recipient of four honorary doctorates, she has been involved in many of the major progressive political battles from the 1960s to the contemporary moment, including the anti-Vietnam war and the women’s movement, and more recently an active participant in the resistance to the war in Iraq.

About Sex Wars: a Novel of Gilded Age New York:

Post-Civil War New York City is the battleground of the American dream: an era of vast fortunes and crushing poverty – an era surprisingly like our own, in which some of the most infamous characters in American history collide over the issues of sexuality, censorship, women’s rights, and privacy.

In a sprawling fictionalized history written in the epic style of Piercy’s critically acclaimed Gone to Soldiers, Sex Wars unfolds through the alternating viewpoints of Victoria Woodhull, notorious advocate of sexual freedom and candidate for President of the United States; Anthony Comstock, feared morals crusader who fought to eliminate sexual expression; the free thinking suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton; and Freydeh, a spirited young Jewish woman from Russia who takes up condom-making to support herself and her unconventional family.

“Triumphantly candid in its approach to sexuality, this is a message novel in the best possible sense, spectacularly engrossing and truly moving…In this mesmerizing, sexy, and forthright historical novel, Piercy portrays heroic women determined to control every aspect of their lives, from birth control to finances.”

–-Booklist

Free and open to the public. Reserve your spot here. For more information please call 312.422.5580.

Event is free and open to the public.