Sweat: A History of Exercise (Bloomsbury, 2022)

Saturday, September 24, 2022
8:30 AM
Lewes Public Library, Meeting Room

About the book
In Sweat, Bill Hayes uses what The New York Times has called his “unusual set of skills: part science writer, part memoirist, part culture explainer” to examine a chapter in human history that’s largely been overlooked — exercise. Telling the story of this modern obsession, along with its ancient origins, Hayes draws on his personal experiences with running, jogging, swimming, spinning, walking, biking, boxing, lifting, sweating, yoga, and more to explore the cultural and scientific history of why and how we exercise, and, indeed, how the human body works.

About the author
Bill Hayes, who received a Guggenheim Fellowship in nonfiction, is the author of How We Live Now, Insomniac City, and The Anatomist, among other books. A collection of his street photography, How New York Breaks Your Heart, was published recently by Bloomsbury.

Hayes was in conversation with Sarah Trembanis at the event.

Sarah Trembanis is a professor of history at the University of Delaware. Her research focuses on the intersections of race, gender, and identity in American popular culture. She is the author of The Set Up Men: Race and Resistance in Black Baseball.

Purchase the book
Please help support local independent bookstores by purchasing this book at Browseabout Books, official bookseller of the History Book Festival. Online sources and digital versions are tempting; however, supporting local brick and mortar shops helps to preserve our vibrant main streets. Drop by Browseabout, order books online, or call the store at 302-226-2665. You also may purchase a copy at biblion in Lewes.

About the Festival
With the help of our presenting sponsors—Delaware Humanities and The Lee Ann Wilkinson Group, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices I PenFed Realty—as well as our community partners and volunteers, the 2022 History Book Festival was full of great discussions with authors of newly published narrative nonfiction and historical fiction.

Special thanks to Lewes Public Library, for venue and assistance with event promotion; to Browseabout Books in Rehoboth, our official bookseller; and to the Cape Gazette and Delmarva Public Media, our media partners.

Mark your calendars for the 2023 History Book Festival. Join our authors, interviewers, and other attendees at live events throughout the weekend of September 29, 30, and October 1.