Reading: Elizabeth Berg September 24, 2005

Elizabeth Berg, the author of fourteen bestselling novels, will hold a reading sponsored by River City Books on Saturday, September 24, at 7 p.m. at the Northfield Arts Guild, located at 304 Division Street. Berg will read passages from several of her novels and field questions from the audience. The event, part of the Northfield Reads! Series, is free and open to the public.

Berg made her mark as a promising writer with the 1993 publication of her first novel, "Durable Goods." The story centers on Katie, a 12-year-old girl reeling from her mother's death while her abusive father drags her from town to town. The American Library Association named it a Best Book of the Year, as they did her 1997 book, ?Joy School,? a continuation of Katie?s story where the crucible is her first taste of romance. ?Durable Goods? was never meant to have a sequel, Berg said in a publisher's interview, but she ended up writing it (and later ?True to Form?) because she missed the original characters. "There was just a time when I was lying in the bathtub, and I thought about Katie, and I got out of the bathtub and started writing about her to see what she was up to," she said.

Since then, many of Berg?s subsequent novels have focused on an event that changes a woman's life. In "What We Keep," (1998) Berg writes about a girl's abandonment by her mother. In "Until the Real Thing Comes Along," (1999), she reflects on a woman's love for a gay man. The stories are grounded in the realistic minutiae of family life: toilsome marriages, tempestuous parent-child relationships, love, betrayal and resolution.

Berg's subjects show her command of authentic details. Before she became a full-time writer, Berg was a registered nurse, where she accumulated observations on sickness, healing and the emotional toll that health crises take on people. In "Range of Motion," (1995) Berg wrote about the experience of a comatose man; in "Talk Before Sleep" (1994) about a nurse caring for a good friend who is succumbing to cancer; in "Never Change," (2001) about a nurse treating an incurably ill man who also happens to have been a childhood acquaintance.

?Open House,? (2000) was named a selection of Oprah Winfrey?s Book Club, with Winfrey calling it ?a superb novel? a love story about what can blossom between a man and a woman, and within a woman herself.?

Berg?s latest book, ?The Year of Pleasure,? (2005) tells the story of a recent widow trying to start her life anew. The Library Journal called it ?poignant, intimate and hopeful,? and declared it ?a novel to read, treasure, and share.?

Born in Saint Paul, Berg attended the University of Minnesota and St. Mary?s College. She lived in Massachusetts for many years before finally settling in Chicago.

Northfield Reads!, a communitywide book club open to the public, is sponsored by River City Books, the Northfield Public Library, and the Carleton and St. Olaf college bookstores. This Northfield Reads! event, rather than focusing on a single title, as has been the case with past selections, will be a retrospective on Berg's writing. She will read from several of her works and will answer audience questions. River City Books has numerous Berg titles in stock for those who want to become acquainted with Berg's writing.

River City Books is a general interest bookstore in downtown Northfield. Home to a large selection of Carleton and St. Olaf clothing and gifts, the bookstore also carries a wide variety of quality literature, such as McSweeney?s Publishing titles. River City Books sponsors numerous events throughout the year for the area community, bringing in celebrated authors for book signings and discussions.

For more information and disability accommodations, call River City Books in Northfield at (507) 646-7754.

Berg's books are available through River City Books and the Carleton College Bookstore.