The Moth at the New York Public Library

The celebrations of the New York Public Library's centennial continued last night with a special session of The Moth, the beloved storytelling organization. With Adam Gopnik of the New Yorker hamming it up as the host, we heard Lemon Andersen on his experience with a would-be angel in an Ohio prison, Jennifer 8 Lee on her mostly-love-but-a-little-bit-of-hate relationship with electronic devices, Sharon Olds on the almost-death of a child she witnessed from her apartment window, and Paul LeClerc, the outgoing president of the library, on a mud bath with a trustee and a touching moment with Brooke Astor. Good though those were, the most arresting story of the night belonged to Ishmael Beah, whose tale of the library he carried in his head as war descended on his home in Sierra Leone left several audience members in tears and everyone in renewed awe of the transporting power of a good story. 

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