Salon Menlo celebrates fictional, cultural icon Mildred Pierce--a 1930s housewife and mother from Glendale, California who threw her cheating husband out and went on to won a successful chain of cafes during the Great Depression.
We first meet Mildred in the 1941 novel written by James Cain. Then we see her portrayed in the 1945 film starring Joan Crawford in an Oscar winning performance. This year, HBO viewers met her again in a five part miniseries starring Kate Winslet.
Menlo Park filmmaker and cinema historian Nick Szegda,M.L.S. shows film clips.
Book group leader Lauren John tells us about the James Cain novel now available as a Vintage paperback.
All will enjoy pie a la Mildred Pierce.
This event, sponsored by the Al Jacobs fund administered by the Friends of the Menlo Park Public Library is FREE and open to all.
Latest News & Events
Salon Menlo Presents Mildred Pierce: The book, the film, the pies
May.04.2011
Featured Works
Lauren's Latest Blogs
Jul.15.2012 - 2:03 pm
"A guy walks into a room, puts on a cape, and stuff happens."
This is what sells American movies, said screenwriter Daniel Taplitz--playing the detached Hollywood cool guy...
Continue Reading »
Jun.20.2012 - 9:18 am
In the days before e-books, you could find out a lot about a person you were about to hook up with by taking a look at their bookshelves. Of course, there...
Continue Reading »
Dec.14.2011 - 10:07 am
When I began this All Seasons blog four years ago, I was leading local book discussion groups and working as a solo librarian at the Town and Country Club in San Francisco.
T&...
Continue Reading »
Aug.20.2011 - 7:23 pm
If you want to come to my next book group in which we discuss both the 2011 novel The Paris Wife by Paula McClain and Ernest Hemingway's memoir A Moveable Feast, be...
Continue Reading »
Published Reviews
Oct.01.2006
Published by Booklist Reviews
Author John, a librarian, book reviewer, writer, and experienced book-group leader, believes in the power of good book groups. Her book provides a detailed step-by-step guide to...
Bloom where you are planted.”
About Lauren
I am a librarian and book group leader who has led book groups in public libraries, bookstores, boardrooms, museums, living rooms, retirement communities, and synagogues. Born and raised in New York City, I have lived and worked in Manhattan, Boston, and now...
Connections
Causes Lauren John Supports
Keplers Bookstore Circle of Friends (Menlo Park)
Friends of the Menlo Park Public Library
Book Group Expo
Marin Agricultural Land Trust...
Comments from Lauren