Chevy Chase Non Fiction Book Club

The Aviator & The Showman

Join us for a discussion of Amelia Earhart, George Putnam, and "the marriage that made an American icon" by Laurie Gwen Shapiro

The Chevy Chase Library elevator currently out of service and undergoing modernization replacement. This program is held in the downstairs meeting room, and it is only accessible by the stairs.

Join our friendly book group! Each month we read either a non-fiction (first Wednesday at 3:30) or fiction (third Wednesday at 3:30) selection. Titles are announced a month before,and copies are available at the Circulaiton Desk. Discussion questions are provided with the selection.

"In 1928, a young social worker and hobby pilot named Amelia Earhart arrived in the office of George Putnam, heir to the Putnam & Sons throne and hitmaker, on the hunt for the right woman for a secret flying mission across the Atlantic. A partnership—professional and soon otherwise—was born.

The Aviator and the Showman unveils the untold story of Amelia’s decade-long marriage to George Putnam, offering an intimate exploration of their relationship and the pivotal role it played in her enduring legacy. Despite her outwardly modest and humble image, Amelia was fiercely driven and impossibly brave, a lifelong feminist and trailblazer in her personal and professional life. Putnam, the so-called “PT Barnum of publishing” was a bookselling visionary—but often pushed his authors to extreme lengths in the name of publicity, and no one bore that weight more than Amelia. Their ahead-of-its time partnership supported her grand ambitions—but also pressed her into more and more treacherous stunts to promote her books, influencing a certain recklessness up to and including her final flight.

Earhart is a captivating figure to many, but the truth about her life is often overshadowed by myth and legend. In this cinematic new account, Laurie Gwen Shapiro emphasizes Earhart’s multifaceted human side, her struggles, and her authentic aspirations, the truths behind her brave pursuits and the compromises she made to fit into societal expectations. Drawing from a trove of new sources including undiscovered audio interviews, The Aviator and the Showman is a gripping and passionate tale of adventure, colorful characters, hubris, and a complex and a vivid portrait of a marriage that shaped the trajectory of an iconic life." - Publisher

Read more about this title here and visit the author's website.

Want to read more non-fiction? Enjoy other non-fiction titles in our MCPL catalog. 

Questions about this program? Contact Chevy Chase Library at: 240-773-9590

Looking for more fun things to do at MCPL? 

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Accommodation Requests

People who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing should request English-language captioning or sign-language interpretation at least five days before the library-sponsored program they plan to attend. Contact the Assistant Facilities and Accessibility Program Manager at 240-777-0002 with all other accommodation requests.

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