Bonnie Garmus — Lessons in Chemistry - with Dr. Carla Hayden — at Sixth & I

Watch author Bonnie Garmus' book talk and reading at Sixth &I in Washington, D.C.

Since Lessons in Chemistry—the funny and shrewdly observant debut novel by copywriter and creative director Bonnie Garmus—was released nearly a year ago, it has become an international success and been named a best book of the year by The Washington Post, NPR, Oprah Daily, Entertainment Weekly, and Newsweek among others. A #1 New York Times bestseller, with 44 weeks on the bestseller list and counting, the novel centers on Chemist Elizabeth Zott, not your average woman.

Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one chemist, Calvin Evans, a lonely, brilliant, Nobel-prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with Zott’s mind. True chemistry results. But like science, life is unpredictable, and Zott finds herself as the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show. As her following grows, not everyone is happy because Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook—she’s daring them to change the status quo.

Garmus is in conversation with Dr. Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress. Dr. Hayden was nominated to the position by President Obama and is the first woman and the first African American to lead the library.

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Founded by Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade in 1984, Politics and Prose Bookstore is Washington, D.C.'s premier independent bookstore and cultural hub, a gathering place for people interested in reading and discussing books. Politics and Prose offers superior service, unusual book choices, and a haven for book lovers in the store and online.