East Hampton Library Celebrates 10th Annual Authors Night
Books are alive and thriving in the Hamptons, and the celebration hits a high note on Saturday, August 9, with the 10th anniversary of East Hampton Library’s Authors Night. What began in 2005 as a small fundraising event with a handful of authors has grown over the last decade to become one of the most successful fetes of books and authors in America.
Featuring 100 authors across all genres, the book-signing cocktail reception will once again take place under a grand tent at the Gardiner Farm in East Hampton Village. Last year’s record-breaking event raised nearly $300,000 for the East Hampton Library, with more than 2,000 in attendance. Guests enjoy the lively cocktail party atmosphere, where they can meet their favorite authors and walk away with stacks of personally inscribed books. Publishers and authors generously donate the books for the annual event, with 100 percent of the book-sale proceeds benefitting the Library—a private, not-for-profit organization providing outstanding library services to the East Hampton community
The event’s founding co-chairs Alec Baldwin and Barbara Goldsmith will be joined by this year’s honorary co-chairs Robert A. Caro, Giada De Laurentiis, Nelson DeMille, Lee Grant, Alice McDermott and James McBride. Other featured authors include Eric Asimov and Florence Fabricant (Wine With Food); Ben Bradlee (The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams); Dick Cavett (Talk Show); Tom Clavin (The Heart of Everything That Is); Jennifer Esposito (Jennifer’s Way); Aerin Lauder (Beauty At Home); Jennifer Nicole Lee (The Mind, Body & Soul Diet); Eric Van Lustbader (The Bourne Ascendancy); Thomas Maier (Masters of Sex); Allison Pataki (The Traitor’s Wife); Chris Pavone (The Accident); Holly Peterson (The Idea of Him); Philippe Petit (Why Knot?); Joe Pintauro (Men’s Lives); Richard Ravitch (So Much To Do); Philip Schultz (The Wherewithal); Lynn Sherr (Sally Ride); Michael Shnayerson (The Big Book of the Hamptons); Jessica Soffer (Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots)—and many more. The complete list of this year’s participating authors can be found on the event website.
New to the event this year and sure to be a big draw are TV chef Giada De Laurenttis, who will be signing copies of her new book, Giada’s Feel Good Food; actress Lee Grant, signing copies of her new memoir, I Said Yes to Everything; James McBride, signing copies of his 2013 National Book Award winner, The Good Lord Bird; and novelist Alice McDermott, signing copies of Someone. Authors Night favorites including Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Robert A. Caro and best-selling author Nelson DeMille will be sure to draw a large crowd as always, as they sign copies of their latest books, The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Passage of Power and The Quest, respectively.
The two-part event begins at 5 p.m. with the Authors Book Signing Cocktail Reception at Gardiner Farm, where guests enjoy delicious hors d’oeuvres and wine and have the opportunity to meet and mingle with the authors, buy their books and have them personally inscribed. At 8 p.m., directly following the Authors Reception, guests can attend private dinner parties at area homes in honor of one of the guest authors—this year’s dinner guests include Robert Caro, Nelson DeMille, Giada De Laurenttis, Alice McDermott, James McBride, Dick Cavett, Mac Griswold, Art Donovan, Aerin Lauder, Joe Pintauro, Chris Pavone, Allison Pataki, Phillip Caputo, Heather Bertinetti, Henry Bushkin, Mary Emmerling and others.
The East Hampton Library’s 10th Annual Authors Night is Saturday, August 9. There will be a book signing reception from 5–7:30 p.m. at Gardiner Farm (36 James Lane) in East Hampton. Dinner parties begin at 8 p.m. at various private local homes. Tickets for the book signing reception are $100 and are available online and at the door; dinner party tickets start at $250, include entry to the book signing reception, and must be reserved in advance.
For full event details and tickets, visit authorsnight.org or call 631-324-0222.