Alisyn Camerota Launches Memoir "Combat Love" at Westport Library, March 27, 7pm
Westport, CT - Alisyn Camerota will be at The Westport Library Wed. March 27 at 7pm to launch her new memoir, Combat Love.
This free event will be held in the Library’s Trefz Forum and feature Camerota in conversation with fellow memoirist and Westporter Gabi Coatsworth. Registration is strongly encouraged.
Wednesday evening is the first of two upcoming appearances for Camerota at the Library. The two-time Emmy Award winner will return on Saturday, April 6, for VersoFest 2024, in conversation with The Doors drummer John Densmore about his book, The Doors Unhinged: Jim Morrison's Legacy Goes on Trial.
“We’re remarkably fortunate to have Alisyn Camerota in the Library, and to have her twice in the span of 10 days is incredible for us and a real treat for everyone who loves great music and first-rate storytelling,” said Westport Library Executive Director Bill Harmer.
Combat Love is Camerota’s story of growing up longing for stability and attachment as the foundation of her family crumbled. Set on the Jersey Shore in the 1980s, Combat Love centers around Camerota’s relationship with a local punk rock band named Shrapnel — the title derives from one of their songs — and the band’s diehard fans. The book chronicles her near-misses and misadventures at clubs like CBGB and Max’s Kansas City, coupled with the sex, drugs, and punk rock of 1980s New Jersey.
“The story is about my long search for belonging — and home,” Camerota said in a social media post announcing the book.
The early reviews of the book are dazzling.
“Combat Love is far more than an audacious coming-of-age story; it’s a reminder that beneath a successful adult’s polished exterior is the wildness of youth, vulnerability, and loss,” wrote Adrienne Brodeur, the best-selling author of Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me. “Camerota shows us the hard-earned work of finding your voice. So, while you might pick up Combat Love because of the author’s familiar face, you won’t be able to put it down for her candor, wit, and storytelling."
Kirkus Reviews, meantime, called Combat Love “a candid chronicle of hard-won survival.”
Alisyn Camerota’s Combat Love
Wednesday, March 27
7-8 pm
Trefz Forum
Registration link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/alisyn-camerotas-combat-love-tickets-817388861087
Event link: https://westportlibrary.org/event/alisyn-camerotas-combat-love/
About The Westport Library
Founded in 1886, built in 1908, and transformed in 2019, The Westport Library is one of the most active and innovative public libraries in the nation, devoted to enriching the intellectual and creative lives of the community. Among its many highlights are a full collection of books for children, teens, and adults; an engaging and colorful Children’s Library; a MakerSpace; a Library of Things; a Seed Library; a robust café and store; and professional art installations that rotate throughout the year. The Westport Library is also home to Verso Studios, replete with an SSL hybrid analog sound studio and broadcast control suite featuring a state-of-the-art console and six robotic cameras, and the Trefz Forum, an open, flexible space that can accommodate up to 600 patrons and features an 18-foot video wall, 35-foot stage, state-of-the-art sound, and theatrical lighting. Situated in the heart of downtown Westport overlooking the scenic Saugatuck River, The Westport Library annually hosts StoryFest, the largest literary festival in Connecticut, and VersoFest, its multi-day music and media festival. Above all, the Library strives to serve the whole community as a vibrant gathering spot where people of all ages come to seek information, gain knowledge, exchange ideas, and share experiences.