Recurring series

Author Talk: More Punk Than the Public Library

Fans of reading, writing, zines, punk rock, and free sidewalk libraries! Please join writer, musician, and attorney J. Hunter Bennett in conversation with Peter Cortner (singer-songwriter, Dag Nasty, Applied Knowledge), discussing Bennett's latest book, More Punk Than the Public Library : The Adventures of a Little Free Punk Rock Bookstore. Microcosm Publishing : J. Hunter Bennett started a little free punk rock bookstore during the pandemic outside his house on a well-trafficked corner of Chevy Chase, D.C., and published a companion newsletter. It began as a way to offload his excess music books and noir novels, but swiftly grew into a neighborhood fixture and underground punk zine for the modern era. Here you'll find book reviews, band interviews, neighborhood gossip, and praise from at least two members of Fugazi. A touching testament to the DIY spirit, a treasure trove of literary and punk rock recommendations, and a low-key how-to guide for building something unique with your own network of like-minded weirdos. More Punk Than the Public Library : The adventures of a Little Free Punk Rock Bookstore is available to borrow through Brooklyn Public Library. Search the BPL catalog . About the author: J. Hunter Bennett writes for the music magazine Ugly Things and plays bass guitar in the band Dot Dash. Because neither of these jobs pays very well—okay, at all—he also practices government contracts law at a large law firm in Washington, DC. He previously served as a Trial Attorney for the United States Department of Justice, and an Assistant District Attorney in Philadelphia. He considers himself a connoisseur of orange soda. Photo by Fred Levy.