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Author and humorist Julia Pandl will read from Memoir of the Sunday Brunch at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 7, in a free reading at Prairie Lights Books in downtown Iowa City. The reading also will be streamed live on the University of Iowa Writing University website.
In this, her debut book, Pandl writes about her rite of passage, which included mandatory service at her family’s Milwaukee-based restaurant, where she watched as her father—who was also the chef—ruled with the strictness of a drill sergeant.
At 12, Julia was initiated into the ritual of the Sunday brunch, a weekly madhouse, where she (and her eight siblings before her) did service in a situation of controlled chaos, learning not just the family business but also life lessons that would shape them for years to come. Pandl now looks back on those formative years as a source of strength as the world her father knew began to change into a tougher, less welcoming place.
For more information or special accommodations to attend this reading, call Jan Weissmiller at Prairie Lights, 319-337-2681. For a UI arts calendar and details about upcoming events visit the new Arts Iowa website.