WATER FOR ELEPHANTS

Join us for our next book in the Rubber Banned Book Club!

Over 10 millions copies sold. NY Times best seller for over 4 years. Adapted into a Broadway musical and blockbuster film.

As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety (or ninety-three, he’s not quite sure), the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie.

It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, was their only hope for survival.

[saragruen.com]

 

WHY WAS THIS BOOK BANNED IN SOME SCHOOLS & STATES?

This novel has faced multiple book bans in U.S. school due to parental challenges regarding sexual content, violence, and drug use. Recently, it was challenged in three individual school districts. Under state law, this triggered a removal from all Utah public schools and charter schools.

ABOUT SARA GRUEN

Sara Gruen is the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of At the Water’s Edge, Water for Elephants, Ape House, Riding Lessons, and Flying Changes. Her works have been translated into forty-three languages, and have sold more than ten million copies worldwide. Water for Elephants was adapted into a major motion picture starring Reese Witherspoon, Rob Pattinson, and Christoph Waltz in 2011.

She lives in Western North Carolina with her husband and three sons, along with their dogs, cats, horses, birds, and the world’s fussiest goat.

[saragruen.com]

 

 

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ABOUT THE READERS

NATE SANTANA is a proud artistic affiliate of American Blues Theater. He’s also an Artistic Collective Member at Teatro Vista Productions and Creative Producer at Shattered Globe where he recently directed Lobby Hero. Acting credits include: Ironbound (Raven Theatre) The Thanksgiving Play, Ironbound (Steppenwolf); Legend of Georgia McBride, Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley (Northlight); Frankenstein, Sense and Sensibility (Indiana Repertory Theatre); SS! Romeo and Juliet, SS! Twelfth Night (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Marvin’s Room (Shattered Globe); Balm in Gilead, Golden Boy (Griffin Theatre); The Abuelas, White Tie Ball, Momma’s Boyz (Teatro Vista); The Rainmaker (BoHo Theatre); References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot (Phoenix Theatre Indianapolis) What Happened When, Slipping (the side project). Television credits include “Chicago Med”, “Chicago PD”, “Suits”, and “The Exorcist”. He studied at the School at Steppenwolf, The Moscow Art Theatre, and received his BA from Valparaiso University.

JAMES SHERMAN is the author many plays including Magic Time, The God of Isaac, Beau Jest, Jest A Second!, Romance in D, From Door to Door, Jacob and Jack, Chagall In School, and The First Lady of Television. Originally from Chicago, James was a theatre student at Illinois State University in the 1970s.  He began his professional career with The Second City in Chicago and received an M.F.A. degree from Brandeis University.  Living in New York in the 1980s, James studied acting with Uta Hagen for five years and had his first professional production as a playwright. He was a founding member of the Playwrights Ensemble of the Tony Award-winning Victory Gardens Theater and had thirteen plays premiered there James’ plays have been published and are regularly produced by theaters throughout the United States and have also been seen in Canada, Mexico, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, England, Germany, Austria, Turkey, Poland, South Africa, China, and Korea. In the summer of 2008, James wrote and directed the movie of his play, BEAU JEST, starring Lainie Kazan, Seymour Cassel, and Robyn Cohen. James currently teaches Playwriting and Improvisation at Columbia College of Chicago and DePaul University. He is a member of The Dramatists Guild of America. jamessherman.com