AHBC Presents New York Times Columnist, Best-Selling Author David Brooks

The American History Book Club & Forum and Upcountry History Museum-Furman University will host New York Times columnist and best-selling author David Brooks Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. at The Poinsett Club in downtown Greenville.

“A Conversation with David Brooks: Reflections On Presidential Character” is open to the public. Reservations for the event are required.

Cost for attending is a $50 per person donation to the Furman University Huff Scholars Fund, which supports Furman student internships, and promotes historical literacy in grades K5-12.

David Brooks writes a bi-weekly op-ed for The New York Times, and he is a regular analyst on “PBS NewsHour” and NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

In his latest book, The Road to Character, Brooks focuses on the deeper values that should inform our lives. Responding to what he calls the culture of the “Big Me,” which emphasizes external success, Brooks challenges readers, and himself, to rebalance the scales between “résumé virtues”—achieving wealth, fame, and status—and “eulogy virtues,” those that exist at the core of our being: kindness, bravery, honesty, or faithfulness. He tells the story of 10 notable personalities that illustrate how character is developed, and how to build rich inner lives marked by humility and moral depth.

His previous book, The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character and Achievement, uses the story of a fictional American couple to explain the importance of neuroscience and sociology in understanding America’s politics, culture, and future. His other books, The New York Times bestseller Bobos in Paradise and On Paradise Drive are penned in a style he calls “comic sociology”—descriptions of how we live and “the water we swim in” that are characterized as “witty and entertaining as they are revealing and insightful.”

Brooks teaches a course at Yale University. He holds honorary degrees from Williams College, New York University, Brandeis University, and Occidental College, among others. In 2010, Brooks became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Brooks has worked at The Weekly Standard, joining the magazine at its inception and serving as senior editor.

For reservations, contact Nancy Liebezeit at nancy.liebezeit@furman.edu, or (864) 294-2173. For more information, contact the Furman University News and Media Relations Office at (864) 294-3107.

About The American History Book Club & Forum
Founded in 2008, the American History Book Club & Forum provides opportunities for the intellectually curious to explore their passion for American History through the written and spoken presentations of great writers and historians. The Club is dedicated to creating interest in the nation’s cultural, economic and political history, to inspiring appreciation for enlightened traditions of the American experience and to advancing the United States’ distinctive leadership role in the world community.