For Immediate Release: May 31, 2006

London Guardian Columnist to Give Book Talk at Oakland Public Library

(Oakland, CA)— London Guardian columnist Gary Youngewill discuss his new book, a compilation of columns exploring the diversity, energy, and struggles of life in America, when he visits Oakland’s Main Library, located at 125-14th Street, on Wednesday, June 21, from 6 to 7:30 pm. Younge will read from and sign copies of his latest book, Stranger in a Strange Land: Encounters in the Disunited States, at the library’s first floor Art/Music/History/Literature department.

Stranger in a Strange Land is the latest book by the author of No Place Like Home: A Black Briton’s Journey Through the American South, a 2002 travelogue and memoir that revealed Younge is a sharp student of history and a skilled journalist who could capture time and place with depth and compassion. It was short listed for the Guardians’ 1 st Book Award in 1999. Gary Younge’s writing has also appeared in The Nation, the Detroit News, CounterPunch.org, and on BBC Two.

Younge’s new book includes the same political savvy, historical insight, and wry humor that helped the writer establish himself as a columnist covering US life for the London Guardian Newspaper. As the Guardian’s correspondent in New York for the last four years, he has traversed America to cover the post-9/11 American landscape, gay marriage, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, worker’s rights issues, the rogue nature of the Bush administration, and more.

For more information, please call (510) 238-3136, or see the Library's Web site: www.oaklandlibrary.org. Please refrain from wearing scented products. To request sign interpretation, or other accommodation, call the number above or (510) 834-7446 (TTY) at least five working days prior to the event. The Oakland Public Library is a department of the City of Oakland.

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