CHICAGO—Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times best-selling author Nathaniel Philbrick, author of the 2011 Notable Book “The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of Little Bighorn,” “Mayflower” and “In the Heart of the Sea” will speak at the 2011 Literary Tastes Breakfast in New Orleans.

“The Last Stand,” which was described by the Los Angeles Times as “an engrossing, thoughtfully researched and tautly written account of a critical chapter in American history,” presents a modern and authoritative version of a defining event in America’s past—The Battle of Little Bighorn—with the depth and nuance that readers have come to expect from Philbrick, a master historian and storyteller. Throughout “The Last Stand,” Philbrick evokes the history, geography and haunting beauty of the Great Plains and sets a bold new context for an oft-told story in which iconic figures like General George Armstrong Custer, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse become very human with what Newsday calls “a winning combination of sure-handed pacing, gimlet-eyed pen-portraits and telling details amid the contextual big picture.” The story will ultimately captivate history readers and Western enthusiasts alike, who won’t want to miss Philbrick’s appearance at the breakfast, which is an Annual Conference tradition hosted by the Collection Development and Evaluation Section (CODES) of the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA).

The breakfast, which will be held from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Sunday, June 26, features authors from RUSA’s 2011 literary book award selections, including the Notable Books List for outstanding fiction, non-fiction and poetry; The Reading List for the best genre fiction of the year and the Sophie Brody Medal for achievement in Jewish literature. Authors read from their work and discuss their creative process while attendees enjoy a scrumptious breakfast. A book sale and signing follows the event.

In addition to Philbrick, Guy Gavriel Kay, author of 2011 Reading List Fantasy winner “Under Heaven” is also participating in this exciting conference event. Additional authors will be announced throughout the spring at the RUSA website, RUSA blog and literarytastes.com. Registration for the breakfast and conference is now available at the 2011 Annual Conference website.

Conference participants can add the breakfast to their registration by locating it on the list of ticketed events in the online registration form (event code RUS2) located at www.ala.org/annual. Those not attending the conference are invited to purchase tickets for the breakfast only by selecting “Preconferences and Ticketed Events Only” as their registration type, then selecting the Literary Tastes Breakfast from the event list.

Breakfast tickets start at $50 for RUSA members, who receive the best price on this and other RUSA events throughout the conference. Join ALA and RUSA or add ALA and RUSA to your membership by calling the ALA membership team at 1 (800) 545-2433, option 5.

The Reference and User Services Association, a division of the American Library Association, represents librarians and library staff in the fields of reference, specialized reference, collection development, readers’ advisory and resource sharing. RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need. Learn more at www.ala.org/rusa.