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Huge thanks and a big kiss to Lauren Cerand, a dear friend whose The Smart Set we’ve enjoyed for so many years. From now on, MaudNewton.com won’t be equipped for events listings. If you’re wondering what Lauren and I are up to, try Twitter.

Dear friends,

After five years, The Smart Set has reached the end of its natural life. I will continue to do my own events and publicity projects, including “Upstairs at the Square,” and write about art, politics and style at Lux Lotus, and duh, Twitter. Many thanks for sharing your happening news and invitations with me! I look forward to seeing you around.

Warmly,
LC

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

The “Summer Lovin’” Edition

MON, JUN 29: New Yorker editor Ben Greenman wraps up his tour for Please Step Back, with a talk on indie publishing and creative collaborations — include his recent limited editions for Jack Spade and Hotel St. George — with Opium’s Todd Zuniga. Afterwards, we’ll all go out for a drink, and I’ll be free from professional obligations requiring me to appear in public for six weeks. Cheers to that [Full disclosure, as always: I am Ben’s publicist]. At Barnes & Noble, Tribeca (corner of Warren and Greenwich). 7PM, FREE.

TUE, JUN 30: Join Suketu Mehta, Simon Winchester and Lewis Lapham for short readings and a wine reception to celebrate the launch of the Travel issue of Lapham’s Quarterly, at Idlewild Books. 7PM, FREE; rsvp to [email protected]. In Brooklyn, ” Afghanistan Stories, a fundraiser for war orphans in Kabul, at Belleville Lounge, 332 5th St (at 5th Ave) in Park Slope. Introduction by David Ellis Dickerson, who has opened for David Sedaris and appeared on NPR’s ‘This American Life.’ Hosted by Veterans for Afghanistan founder and director, Kristen L. Rouse. Includes Masha Hamilton, author and founder of the Afghan Women’s Writing Project, and Marco Reininger, whom you might have seen in Newsweek along with Stephen Colbert.” 8PM, “$10 suggested donation, + 1 drink/food item minimum.”

And then…

JULY 5: “Cumbia became popular in Colombia in the 1950’s – a mix of African and indigenous rhythms, it quickly spread to the rest of Latin America and became especially popular in Mexico, Peru and Argentina where it was adapted to fit the local taste… From Monterey’s rebajada to Buenos Aires’ digital cumbia, young musicians are recycling their grandparents’ music and launching a global musical wave reminiscent of the late 1970’s Ska movement. WFMU and Barbès Records are joining forces to present two of North America’s pre-eminent cumbia bands. Very Be Careful from LA and Chicha Libre from Brooklyn – as well as DJs (tba) representing old school and digital cumbia.” At The Bell House. 8PM, $10.

JULY 8: Amanda Stern’s Happy Ending Reading & Music Series at Joe’s Pub explores “CONFESSION & JEALOUSY, STARRING: Nick Laird, Binnie Kirshenbaum and Kevin Canty. MUSICAL GUEST: Elvis Perkins.” 7PM, $15 tickets.

JULY 11: “The Museum of Arts and Design and Museum of the Moving Image have announced the launch of a new film series celebrating the 50th anniversary of the French New Wave. The series, entitled French New Wave Essentials, will present the best and most influential films of this period, many being shown in recently restored 35mm prints. Ranging from timeless masterpieces such as Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless and François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows to rarely seen works including Agnès Varda’s films Cleo from 5 to 7 and Le Bonheur, screenings will be held at the Museum of Arts and Design at 2pm and 4pm each Saturday and Sunday from July 11 through August 30.”

JULY 12: The maverick hipster indie pranksters behind Featherproof bring “The Dollar Store Show Super Summer Tour” to The Slipper Room. Essential. 8PM, $1.

JULY 15: Samuel Delany reads at KGB. 7PM, FREE. At jen bekman, “Summer Reading” opens. 6-8PM, FREE.

JULY 20: “Little House on the Bowery Event: Bluestockings, 7pm, Derek McCormack reads from The Show That Smells (w/ Edmund White)” (via Dennis Cooper).

JULY 22: Jessica Hopper presents The Girls Guide to Rocking at Barnes & Noble, Greenwich Village. Related: Sasha Frere-Jones at The New Yorker wonders what it’s like to be a girl in a band and compares the new Sonic Youth single to Hopper’s infomercial. 7:30PM, FREE.

JULY 31: “Sean Dorsey, winner of two Isadora Duncan Dance Awards and the Goldie Award for Performance, and a stellar cast of dancers chase the naked truth in Uncovered: The Diary Project. Using text from actual, real-life diaries, Uncovered’s powerful dances reveal lives and stories that history has tried to erase. Out spill diary secrets, bathhouse antics, outrageous love, pop idols, misadventures, impossible courage and the importance of documenting and sharing our history.” At Dixon Place as part of the HOT! Festival Queer Performance and Culture. 8PM, $20 tickets.

AUGUST 6: At Revolution Books, Melvin Van Peebles’ book release party for Confessions of a Ex-Doofus-Itchyfooted Mutha, the new graphic novel by the legendary filmmaker, playwright, actor and artist. 7PM, FREE.

AUGUST 18: “Upstairs at the Square” presents Regina Spektor (Far) and Kurt Andersen (Reset), with host Katherine Lanpher at the Union Square Barnes & Noble [Full disclosure as always: I am very involved with this series]. 6PM doors, 7PM show, FREE.

ONGOING: Lover, at On Stellar Rays through July 23 (when there will be a closing party from 6-8), Iran Inside Out at the Chelsea Art Museum, and of course, if you haven’t seen Japanther live, your life isn’t fun yet, but there’s a remedy for that; catch the duo at an upcoming show.

Go somewhere new, make mistakes worth repeating, take a chance or two. The Smart Set returns after Labor Day.

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

MON, JUN 22: Sez Jonny Diamond: “I will be hosting the last semifinal round of the L Magazine’s Search for Pocket Fiction: Literary Upstart. That’s right, very short fiction on the longest night of the year: TOO MUCH FUN… As further enticement, I propose that you chase away the Monday blues with dollar beers provided by Connecticut’s own brewery, Thomas Hooker.” At the Slipper Room. 7PM, FREE. At The Tank, “‘Just Working On My Novel’ aims to achieve different goals from the traditional ‘open mic’ model, with crowd interaction, community, and self-lacerating, raucous, drunken fun placed at the forefront. The night’s few rules specify that reading from previous published pieces is strictly forbidden, and each night will feature an author as guest of honor, such as Monday evening’s Atlanta-based Zachary Steele, whose debut speculative fiction/fantasy novel Anointed (Mercury Retrograde Press, 2009) has been called ‘a mix of raucous fun and deep questions’ by Publishers Weekly. Most importantly, admission is free and drinks are cheap.” Later on, Spinnerette, Brody Dalle’s (ex-Distillers) new outfit, plays Bowery Ballroom with Band of Skulls.

TUE, JUN 23: Galapagos Art Space (now in DUMBO) hosts the BOMB Magazine party: “Come party with the BOMB staff and contributors to Issue 108 and celebrate 28 years of legendary interviews between artists, writers, filmmakers & musicians. Cabaret performances and aerialists, compliments of Galapagos Art Space!” 8PM, FREE. (On Thursday, return to Galapagos to write your fondest wish on a balloon with young Polish artist Agnes Janich.) Also, the U.S. Poets in Mexico Series presents David Wojciechowski & Bob Holman, hosted by Sheila Lanham, in the M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden on Rivington Street (Christie/Forsythe Streets). 7PM, FREE.

WED, JUN 24: Contributors to Ariel Gore’s Portland Queer: Tales of the Rose City gather at Bluestockings to celebrate its publication. 7PM, FREE. (Return on Friday for a discussion of Masha Tupitsyn’s new City Lights anthology, Life as We Show It, which asks the question: “Movies have become a primary experience for viewing the world, but what kind of movies are our lives?”)

THU, JUN 25: Contributors to Delhi Noir fete the latest edition in Akashic’s hit series at Idlewild Books. 7PM, FREE: rsvp to [email protected]. Additionally, Yanira Castro & Company and PS 122 present an ongoing series of dance performances at the Gershwin Hotel: “DARK HORSE/BLACK FOREST is an intense love story presented in the most intimate space: a bathroom. The lobby bathroom of The Gershwin Hotel will be transformed by an installation of flourescents, mirrors, and video screens for this exclusive boutique performance. The audience is privy to an emotional and private exchange between a couple that evolves into a formal, sensual dance.” The piece also has a companion Twitter component scripted by writer Rozalia Jovanovic. Through June 28.

FRI, JUN 26: “Sounds Like PAPER 2009 at the South Street Seaport with Kid Cudi, Chester French, and DJ sets by Les Savy Fav and more!” 5:30pm-9:30pm, FREE. And celebrated auteur Werner Herzog will appear at McNally Jackson. 7PM, FREE. Plus, ABC No Rio hosts COMMON SPACES 09, an open house highlighting its various programs. 7PM, FREE.

SAT, JUN 27: Small’s Jazz Club hosts an open-mic poetry series. 5PM, $6. “Brooklyn avant-doom juggernaut” Bloody Panda plays Santo’s Party House. 7PM, $15.

SUN, JUN 28: I really, really wanna see “Leandro Erlich: Swimming Pool” at PS1: “When approached from the first floor, visitors are confronted with a surreal scene: people, fully clothed, can be seen standing, walking, and breathing beneath the surface of the water. It is only when visitors enter the Duplex gallery from the basement that they recognize that the pool is empty…”

AN APPEAL TO READERS: I just finished Rob Walker’s Buying In, and then immediately read Slanted and Enchanted: The Evolution of Indie Culture after that, and I’m looking for another conceptual overview of DIY or counterculture topics that speaks to evolving patterns of communication and cultural distribution now. Any recommendations? Please let me know! Not into: “social media,” business or Malcolm Gladwell-type books, more like Dance of Days.

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

The Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town Edition

MON, JUN 8: Work on your Beach Party Attitude (that’s an actual house cocktail at Diner in Williamsburg) via “Praia Piquinia: Photographs by Christian Chaize” at Jen Bekman Gallery, through July 11. And, “Dan Graham: Beyond,” opening at the Whitney later this month, offers a full and deeply intriguing schedule of complementary programming. If I were in San Francisco, I’d be making time for Robert Frank’s “The Americans” at SF MOMA. Through August 23.

TUE, JUN 9:

WED, JUN 10: Sunday Salon co-founder Nita Noveno says, “As many of you know I work for the Student Press Initiative and this year had the honor of collaborating with a dynamic team of educators and their 11th graders at Brooklyn Community Arts & Media High School (aka BCAM). I’m excited to have been part of this project and would like to invite you to a special student reading of ‘Take a Position, Create a Vision: Persuasive Speeches & Campaign Posters’ by BCAM’s 11th Grade.‘” At Barnes & Noble, 106 Court Street in Brooklyn. 5:45PM, FREE. And, the Beatrice Series returns to the Slipper Room with the Bushwick Book Club for a night of words and music focused on teenage tales, starring Judy Blundell, National Book Award Winner for What I Saw and How I Lied, easily one of my favorite books, ever. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. 7:30PM, FREE.

THU, JUN 11: Ben Greenman, your favorite authority on the heartrending and only somewhat ironic emotional complexity of PDX strippers, the Gowanus Canal, and “lit-roiding,” reads from Please Step Back at Bookcourt. 7PM, FREE [Full disclosure, as always: I am Ben’s publicist].

FRI, JUN 12: Stay in and watch L’Avventura online for free.

WEEKEND: What could be gleefully sharper than the mind of a teenage girl? Imagine an afternoon with the best of them on Sunday, as Girls Write Now’s Annual Spring Reading at the New School features high school students in the program, along with TODAY’s Amy Robach and National Book Award nominee (and Sedaris fave) Jean Thompson, author of Do Not Deny Me [Full disclosure, as always: I am the chair of the board of Girls Write Now, and Jean’s publicist]. 4PM, FREE.

JUN 15: Idlewild Books hosts a launch party for Jean Thompson and Do Not Deny Me, the new story collection earning comparisons to Alice Munro. 7PM, FREE, RSVP: [email protected].

JUN 16: “Upstairs at the Square” celebrates three years of innovative and eclectic programming with Carlos Ruiz Zafon & Las Rubias del Norte, discussing and performing their work with host Katherine Lanpher. 7PM, FREE [Full dislosure, as always: I am very involved with this series].

JUN 20: Special note for Los Angeles readers… Mark Sarvas gives a reading of his darkly shimmering debut novel, Harry, Revised at Book Soup, with Damion Searls, whose new story collection What We Were Doing and Where We Were Going, is just out from Dalkey Archive Press (I recently read — and found wildly entertaining — their French gangster anti-love story, Do Not Touch). 7PM, FREE.

Meanwhile, I’m off to do the Nebraska Summer Writers Conference, and will be speaking at the Center for Fiction Writers Conference in New York later this month. The Smart Set returns June 22.

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

“The Coast-to-Coast Edition”

JUNE 1: Contributors to Because I Love Her, a new anthology with the most charming trailer I’ve seen yet, convene at Bookcourt. Afterparty with drinks and bocce to follow. 7PM, FREE. Brooklyn Independent’s line-up includes “a revealing documentary portrait of filmmaker Harmony Korine during the production of his third feature film, Mister Lonely. Shot on location in Scotland, Paris, and Panama.” At Barbes. 7PM, FREE.

JUNE 2: Chic-chic indie Idlewild Books hosts a launch party for the new paperback of Roxana Robinson’s acclaimed novel, Cost, which tells the story of a Brooklyn musican descent into heroin addiction and how it all falls apart for his family one summer in Maine. Here’s her Largehearted Boy playlist for the book, which she made with the help of this dude [Full disclosure, as always: I have done PR for both Roxana and Idlewild]. 7PM, FREE. And, “The Australian Consulate General invites you to celebrate the publishing of David Francis’ second novel Stray Dog Winter, published in the US by MacAdam/Cage. The novel has received a Fellowship of Australian Writers National Literary award Commendation and is a LAMBDA Literary Award finalist. 6-8PM, FREE, RSVP essential (212) 351-6550.” Ben Greenman, who has of late discussed strippers in Portland and recommended the Gowanus Canal, continues his winning streak with an appearance in conjunction with his new novel, Please Step Back, at Community Bookstore in Park Slope [Full disclosure, as always: I am Ben’s publicist]. 7PM, FREE.

JUNE 3: This Wednesday marks the first edition of Amanda Stern’s Happy Ending series at Joe’s Pub that I know of where there are tickets available the week of the show, which means, you can go. “Ideas & Inventions Night” features Tristan Perich, Samantha Hunt and Dan Rollman. Highly recommended. 7PM, $15 advanced tickets essential.

JUNE 4: At Nublu, a party for an important cause: Ghana Health and Education Initiative’s Program For Girls’ Empowerment. “Awesome drink specials, amazing DJ Matt Lament and live music!” 8-11PM, $12 donation goes directly to the program.

Thursday evening IN LOS ANGELES, the ALOUD LA at Central Library series hosts Philip Lopate and David Ulin in conversation on Susan Sontag. 7PM, FREE. Wish I could make that one! If I were in LA, I would also be saving the date for the next Vermin on the Mount on June 14.

JUNE 5: Friday, new geography, as, I’m going to CHICAGO for Jean Thompson’s Do Not Deny Me launch party (hot show poster and all!), hosted by my friends at Featherproof at the Book Cellar. Please join us if you’re in town as I barely know a soul! Do not deny me! [Full disclosure, as always: I am Jean’s publicist.] 7:30PM, FREE.

JUNE 6: Saturday night, also IN CHICAGO, Ben Greenman hosts a special edition of the Happy Ending Reading Series, with Arthur Phillips, Nami Mun & Joe Meno. Musical guest Daniel Knox, at the Charleston. 7PM, FREE.

All weekend long in New York: the 2009 Woolf and the City conference, which includes a Friday night performance by the West Coast Bloomsbury-influenced indie pop outfit, Princeton. Don’t miss it!

JUNE 7: A good day to chillax.

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

MON, MAY 25: Make a mix tape. Mine’s 27 covers of Jolene.

TUE, MAY 26: NYC’s finest punk band Japanther, en route from Alabama to Spain, and London-based “weird fiction” pioneer/Marxian theorist China Mieville take the stage for the third anniversary edition of “Upstairs at the Square” with host Katherine Lanpher. At the Union Square Barnes & Noble, 6pm doors, 7pm show, FREE [Full disclosure, as always: I am very involved with this series]. In Brooklyn, New Yorker editor Ben Greenman discusses his new novel, Please Step Back, and his recent story collection, Correspondences, with Guilt & Pleasure editor Shelly Salamensky at WORD in Greenpoint, which has chosen the book as its monthly pick. 7PM, FREE [Full disclosure, as always: Ben is one of my PR clients].

WED, MAY 27: The Beatrice series (I would propose, as Lord Byron suggested, “The reader is requested to adopt the Italian pronunciation of Beatrice, sounding all the syllables.”) wraps up its spring season downtown, at the Slipper Room to hear Sarah Rainone and Rakesh Satyal read from their debut novels, Love Will Tear Us Apart and Blue Boy – with special performances by members of the Bushwick Book Club, who have written original songs based on those novels. Every first Tuesday of the month songwriters get together at Goodbye Blue Monday in Bushwick to perform original songs based on works of literature like Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being or Raymond Carver’s What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. This evening’s performance marks the first time that Bushwick Book Club members have written songs based on newly released novels, and there’s also a very strong likelihood that Sarah will be playing bass on one of those songs, AND that Rakesh can be persuaded to show us his skills as a cabaret jazz singer.” 7PM, FREE.

THU, MAY 28: Rudy Wurlitzer makes an extremely rare, nearly unfathomable public appearance (he wrote about his disinclination towards all that in a guest essay for Maud Newton here) in conjunction with Two Dollar Radio’s reissue of his counterculture classic debut, NOG, along with his friend Gary Indiana, whose new novel, The Shanghai Gesture, is also out from the same press [Full disclosure, as always: I publicized Wurlitzer’s most recent novel, The Drop Edge of Yonder]. At 192 Books. 7PM, FREE, “Seating is limited, please call 212.255.4022 for reservations.” In Brooklyn, Mickey Hess reads from his charming diatribe against the day job blues, Big Wheel at the Cracker Factory, out on the greatly underrated Garrett County Press, at Pete’s Candy Store with J. Robert Lennon. 7PM, FREE.

FRI, MAY 29: If you’re going to Book Expo America, please join me and a couple of bottles of wine or sake or similar at 3PM at Two Dollar Radio’s booth for Happy Hour. At 4:30, I’ll be speaking and presenting some thoughts on inspiration as part of 7×20x21.

WEEKEND: On Saturday, Michael Muhammad Knight, Cristy C. Road and Andrew Zornoza read at “THE ENCLAVE XXII: THE FESTIVAL OF PUNK LITERATURE.” At Cake Shop. 3PM, FREE. The big event Saturday night is at the Highline Ballroom as McSweeney’s, SMITHMAG and The Rumpus Present: YOU’RE NOT ALONE, with Comedy by Todd Barry and Eugene Mirman, Music by Matthew Caws of Nada Surf, Readings by Anthony Swofford, Amy Tan and new McSweeney’s authors Jessica Anthony & James Hannaham + The Six-Word Memoirists. Hosted by author and Rumpus editor Stephen Elliott. Highly recommended. Sunday, nap, or maybe check out some photography or something. It’ll be the first (and the last) weekend I’ll be in town for a while, so probably: nap.

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

Later this week, I’m leaving town for my cousin’s wedding in Tupelo, with a side of our family I haven’t seen in twenty years. My brother’s in it but not flying in ’til the morning of; meanwhile, my sister and I are road-tripping through Florence, Birmingham, and Oxford on our way. All that preamble is to say… not too many events in New York on my mind this week, except the ones I have a hand in [full disclosure, up front]:

TUES, MAY 12: Please join Melville House and friends at Galapagos Art Space to celebrate the launch of Ben Greenman’s novel, Please Step Back. New Yorker pop music critic Sasha Frere-Jones joins Greenman live on stage for a conversation on writing, music, and more, and DJ Doc Delay (Psycrunk) takes charge of the afterparty. The first 72 people to arrive in a fashion evocative of the era receive a complimentary cocktail and book (between 7-8PM). The program will begin at 8PM sharp. Galapagos is located at 16 Main Street at the corner of Water Street in DUMBO, Brooklyn. No cover.

THU, MAY 14: “Upstairs at the Square” kicks off a celebration of three years of innovative and eclectic programming with an evening featuring Aleksandar Hemon (Love and Obstacles, the highly anticipated story collection from the MacArthur winner and National Book Award and NBCC finalist) and Alina Simone (Everyone is Crying Out to Me, Beware, which covers songs by Siberian punk-folk singer Yanka Dyagileva, who mysteriously drowned in 1991) performing and discussing their work in conversation with host Katherine Lanpher. 6PM doors, 7PM show; FREE. Next: May 26 (China Mieville & Japanther), June 16 (Carlos Ruiz Zafon & Las Rubias del Norte).

MON, MAY 18: Filmmaker (Mad Hot Ballroom) and author Amy Sewell reads from her new book, She’s Out There: Essays by 35 Young Women Who Aspire to Lead the Nation: The Next Generation of Presidential Candidates, with contributors — White House Project Founder, Marie C. Wilson, Harlem middle school student Fiona Lowenstein, who has interned for New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney; Albany-area resident Ingrid Tighe, a former U.S. Army captain who trained Iraq’s first all-female military company; Macalester College student Kyera Singleton, who has interned with N.J. state politicians working on educational reform; Duke University student Kelly Tully, who interned with then-Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, both before and during her presidential campaign; Columbia University student Cameron Russell, who is the founder and director of Interview New York and a model; and Kara Silverman, Communications Manager for the Avon Foundation for Women, who is running for Hudson County’s Democratic Central Committee — at Barnes & Noble, Tribeca, to benefit Girls Write Now. 7PM, FREE.

The Smart Set will return on May 25th.

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

TUE, MAY 5: I should probably do something really edgy and fabulous tonight, like have a couple of drinks at Angel’s Share and call Maud on the phone and sing Frankie Goes to Hollywood songs.

WED, MAY 6: The Asian American Writers’ Workshop says, “Please join us for an intimate evening with writer Ha Jin, winner of the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. The Workshop is proud to welcome Jin and to present the public with a rare opportunity to meet the author at a classic West Village penthouse with wraparound terrace that has hosted Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Yo-Yo Ma. This special event focuses on Jins newest book, Writer as Migrant, published by the University of Chicago Press.” Sounds really nice and what a good cause plus also cocktails! Highly recommended. 6:30PM, tickets $25-45.

THU, MAY 7: Jonathan Baumbach is introducing a screening of Rohmer’s Autumn Tale, which overlaps in intriguing ways with his latest novel, YOU or The Invention of Memory, at BAMcinematek, as part of the Late Film Series. The New York Times, The New Yorker and Time Out New York have all listed this as a standout, and another good reason to go is that, as I did instantly, you will most likely develop a total professional crush, henceforth known as a “pro crush,” on curator Jake Perlin, who does all that just during the day and then he goes home and does The Film Desk and the new film issue of The Believer and how does he even find the time? SIGH. Anyway, you should find the time to join us, it will be fun and all the best people in New York will be there [Full disclosure, as always: JB is one of my PR clients]. 6:50, tickets $11, advanced purchase strongly suggested.

FRI, MAY 8: Janice Erlbaum (Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir, Have You Found Her) is hosting GEMS’ tenth birthday party. GEMS helps girls in New York get out of the domestic sex trade. Teen writers in the program will read from their original writing alongside GEMS founder Rachel Lloyd whose memoir is forthcoming from HarperCollins. At Bowery Poetry Club. I’m there. 6PM, $10 donation suggested at the door. Later on that evening, I’m going to buy some not-too-exey first editions from Barney Rosset’s personal collection. How cool is that?

SAT, MAY 9: Falconworks, which helps to create theater for and by communities, presents “the Spring 2009 edition of ‘Off the Hook: Original Plays by Red Hook Kids.’ Friday May 8 at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, May 9 at 3:00 p.m. The Patrick Daly School – PS 15, 71 Sullivan Street (between Van Brunt and Richards), Red Hook. Also in Brooklyn, Light Industry presents “An Evening with Hara Kazuo — Extreme Private Eros: Love Song 1974 Hara Kazuo, 16mm, 1974, 98 mins — For this rare in-person appearance, Hara will introduce and discuss his autobiographical film Extreme Private Eros: Love Song 1974, an ultra-personal diary centering on his ex-girlfriend, radical feminist Takeda Miyuki. Not long after their breakup, Hara decides to follow her around with his 16mm camera as an unlikely way to continue their relationship… Hara’s event takes place in conjunction with the release of his first English-language book, Camera Obtrusa: Hara Kazuo’s Action Documentaries, published by Kaya Press.” 7:30PM, Tickets - $7, available at door.

SUN, MAY 10: Sleep late, walk in the park, or whatever. Write a letter that you’ll never send, and then SEND IT.

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

MON, Apr 27: John Wesley Harding (Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead) and Laura Lippman (Life Sentences) are featured “Upstairs at the Square” with host Katherine Lanpher [Full disclosure, as always: I am very involved with this series]. 7PM, FREE.

TUE, Apr 28: Other Means celebrates its two-year anniversary as Glenn Kurtz (Practicing) and David Rothenburg (Thousand Mile Song) read in support of nonprofit arts presenter The Tank. 8PM, $5 suggested. Also, that movie with Stringer looks good, doesn’t it?

WED, Apr 29: Australian novelist Brian Castro tours New York in support of his Shanghai Dancing (Kaya Press) — described by the Sydney Morning Herald as “one of the most unusual and ambitious Australian novels of recent years” — with a reading at New York University’s Asian Pacific American Institute. 6PM, FREE (he’s also at Asian American Writers Workshop on Thursday).

THU, Apr 30: PEN World Voices devotes an evening to the music of composer Daniel Felsenfeld: “Using the creepy, love-struck, sexual, and elegiac words of Kenneth Koch, Comte de Lautréamont, and Jonathan Lethem—and featuring readers and performers, Mark Z. Danielewski, Rick Moody, and Wesley Stace.” 7PM, “entry by donation.” In Brooklyn, Japanther plays a benefit for Automotive High School. Highly recommended.

FRI, May 1: The Marvelous Ms. Maud Newton, patron saint of The Smart Set, hosts “Powerful Women,” an evening “exploring unusual manifestations of female power: Novelist Marlon James reads briefly from his acclaimed (and magnificent) novel, The Book of Night Women, alongside fellow writer Marie Mockett (of the excellent forthcoming novel Picking Bones from Ash). Photo-documentarian Stephanie Keith will present a slideshow featuring a Voodoo high priestess she’s been following. At Housing Works. 7:30PM, FREE, but donated books suggested as the price of admission. And, Laila Lalami, whose new novel is Secret Son, is in town for “Season of Migration to the North: The Work of Tayeb Salih,” happening at Scandinavia House as part of PEN World Voices. 6PM, FREE.

WEEKEND: My favorite new store, Ale at Ange, is worth a stop. Project No. 8 is also good in the neighborhood. While you’re over there, I’ll be frosting the glass with my desire at Zero Maria Cornejo. Saturday night, Idlewild Books hosts a Nordic Lit (Aquavit) Party with authors Jan Kjaerstad (The Conqueror) and Morten Ramsland (Doghead) and NO READING, JUST BOOZE AND WRITERS [Full disclosure, as always: Idlewild Books is one of my publicity clients] 6PM, FREE. And, in Brooklyn, gifted poet Lila Zemborain reads for Noemi Press at Stain Bar (note: followed by “Sad Songs for Happy People” at 10PM).

Upcoming: I’m having a party. You should come.

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

MON, APR 6: Lead Uganda, which assists Ugandan children, is having a benefit show at Canal Room, including a silent auction for a teapot made by my rad hipster pottery teacher, Darin Gehrke. 8PM, $10 suggested.

TUE, APR 7: Stephen Elliott, ringleader of The Rumpus, gives a preview of The Adderall Diaries (Graywolf, September) at KGB Nonfiction Night, along with Saïd Sayrafiezadeh and Rachel Sontag. 7PM, FREE. Joseph Clarke discusses “the evolution of the megachurch and its intersections with the history of the corporate workplace. It’s part of an evening on architecture and urbanism by designers, filmmakers, musicians, and critics organized by Triple Canopy.” At the Kitchen. 7PM, FREE. And, at Project No. 8, “the first in a series of three wooden electric cars will be on view and giving rides around the block,” as part of a project by artist Seth Kinmont. 7-9PM, FREE.

THU, APR 9: “Jen Bekman Gallery is pleased to present Ruins, an exhibition of twelve platinum-palladium prints by photographer Beth Dow.” Opening reception from 6-8PM, FREE.

ONGOING: Beowulf.

Filling in the gaps, the rest of the week is all about the movies: I saw Tokyo! on Friday night and met a Smart Set reader in the lobby (what’s up, Reeves!). That’s at Sunshine. Also playing there, Two-Lane Blacktop at midnight on April 17 & 18 [Full disclosure, as always: I publicized Rudy Wurliter’s The Drop Edge of Yonder]. Anthology Film Archives shows “Chelsea Hotel on Film,” “a crosstown tribute from one bastion of alternative culture to another,” from April 9-12. Upcoming at BAMcinematek, Jonathan Baumbach introduces a screening of Autumn Tale on May 14 [Full disclosure, as always: JB is one of my PR clients]. Also on my radar: Grey Gardens, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh.

The Smart Set returns next Tuesday. ‘Til then, you may console yourself with Jake Troth’s cover of “Chopped and Screwed,” my plaintive request to the weather.

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

MON, MAR 30: Glasvegas, with Ida Maria, play Webster Hall. Uptown, the 92nd Street Y presents “Gogol at 200.” 8PM, $19 ($10 Age 35 and Under).

TUE, MAR 31: “Poet and translator Rosanna Warren, author of Fables of the Self, hosts four master translators reflecting upon the alchemy of voice, style, and literary selfhood in the art of translation. Participants include Jonathan Galassi (Eugenio Montale), Edith Grossman (Mario Vargas Llosa), Marilyn Hacker (Vénus Khoury-Ghata), and Rika Lesser (Rainer Maria Rilke).” Presented by the Center for the Humanities in the Skylight Room (9100) at the Graduate Center, CUNY. 6:30PM, FREE. At Scandinavia House, “In The Tricking of Freya, [Icelandic-American author Christina] Sunley draws on her rich heritage to tell the fictional story of a woman in search of a mysterious relative and a family secret that takes her from a small village to the volcanoes, glaciers, and chasms of Iceland itself.” 6:30PM, FREE.

WED, APR 1: “The Oulipo, a collective of writers and mathematicians who explore alternative ways of writing fiction and poetry using self-imposed (often mathematically-inspired) constraints, is holding an event in New York from April 1-3. Oulipo members Marcel Bénabou, Anne Garréta, Hervé Le Tellier, Ian Monk, and Jacques Roubaud will be in the city for three days of readings, lectures, writing workshops and book signings. Jacques Roubaud will also be presenting the new English translation of his book, The Loop.”

THU, APR 2: Teju Cole (Every Day is for the Thief), who I met at a party the other night and is very nice, reads at that new Franklin Park series with some other people. Highly recommended. 8PM, FREE. And, architect Billie Tsien gives the 2009 Eleanore Pettersen Lecture in the Great Hall of The Cooper Union. “Current work with Tod Williams includes a new museum for the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, a performing and visual arts center at the University of Chicago, the Asia Society headquarters in Hong Kong, and an information technology campus in Mumbai, India. Work in New York includes Harmony Atrium, a new ticketing venue and public space for Lincoln Center, two residences, and two new skating rinks in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.” 6:30PM, FREE.

FRI, APR 3: “Roddy Hart, one of Scotland’s most talented young singer-songwriters, will perform live in what is a genuine world exclusive; the first ever live public performance of three Burns poems, written 250 years ago and put to song for the first time. And where better than in New York’s newly refurbished St Andrew’s Bar, the epicenter of all things Scottish in Manhattan. Roddy is in New York to help promote Homecoming Scotland 2009, a year-long celebration of more than 300 events and festivals across Scotland inspired by the 250th anniversary of our beloved poet Robert Burns.” 8PM, FREE. A downtown Scottish bar: Shoolbred’s.

WEEKEND: On Sunday, pretend to be too focused on rolling that cigarette to notice the Fairway across the street, and amble on nonplussed down to the waterfront, my little bohemians, as Gabriel Cohen’s Sundays at Sunny’s presents an afternoon of eclectic entertainment with Hooman Majd (The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: the Paradox of Modern Iran) and David Henry Sterry (Master of Ceremonies: a True Story of Love, Murder, Roller Skates, and Chippendales). “The series, co-sponsored by BookCourt bookstore, will continue on the first Sunday of every month (except May) at 3PM at Sunny’s, a legendary old bar on the Brooklyn waterfront in Red Hook at 253 Conover Street (between Beard & Reed Streets). You can buy books and get them signed by the authors. Suggested donation: $4. The bar (cash) will be open. Free coffee and Italian pastries and cookies will be provided. Bar telephone (only available when the bar is open): 718-625-8211.” And, “P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center presents Leandro Erlich: Swimming Pool, an extraordinary and visually confounding installation by the Argentine artist Leandro Erlich.” Through April 13.

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

MON, MAR 23: Deborah Fisher of 21st Century Plowshare discusses Bed-Stuy Meadow project, along with other visionaries at Pecha-Kucha. 6:30PM, $5.

TUE, MAR 24: I would like to see Two Lovers; if it were showing in New York with French subtitles, as it does in this trailer, so much the better.

WED, MAR 25: The Beatrice series (I would propose, as Lord Byron suggested, “The reader is requested to adopt the Italian pronunciation of Beatrice, sounding all the syllables.”) presents debut novelists Gitty Daneshvari (The Makedown) and Daphne Uviller (Super in the City)–and a special appearance by Jean Hanff Korelitz, who’ll be reading from her latest novel, Admission, at the Mercantile Library Center for Fiction. 7PM, FREE. Also, you can now register for Anne Fernald’s reading group “Virginia Woolf and the City,” starting April 6 at the Merc. Also on Wednesday, “Tiffany Lee Brown & Nora Robertson tag-team a literary reading of their new collaborative piece at the PANIC! series; this month’s theme: Female Desire (ooh la la), Nowhere, 322 E 14th St, East Village (between 1st/2nd), Hosted by Charlie Vasquez.” 8PM, FREE.

THU, MAR 26: Says American Editor John Freeman, “Granta is having a party next Thursday, March 26th, at Idlewild Books on 19th Street off 5th Avenue to launch our new issue, which is themed to Lost and Found. We’ve got some great pieces inside by AL Kennedy, Jan Morris and a fabulous essay on China, 20 years after Tiananmen Square. We’re going to have some wine and some Granta contributors (from New York and elsewhere) on hand.” 7PM, FREE, RSVP to [email protected] [Full disclosure as always: Idlewild Books is one of my publicity clients, and Maud is one of the Granta contributors who will be attending].

FRI, MAR 27: Daria Martin’s MINOTAUR, which just ended its run at the New Museum is wild, elemental, my kind of art (the kind you see in the dark). Maybe something similarly intriguing has taken its place?

WEEKEND: “Nicelle Beauchene Gallery is pleased to present the first New York solo exhibition by Sarah Crowner. Transforming the legacy of hard-edged geometric abstraction, specifically from the 1950s and 1960s (e.g. Victor Vasarely, Lygia Clark, Olle Baertling, Bridget Riley), Sarah Crowner employs both original and appropriated compositions as patterns and templates to construct paintings that exist as hand-built objects.” Through May 3.

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

At the time of this writing, I am in living in snow exile in Maryland. I came down for the weekend to speak to a class at a school and everything was cancelled this morning, although I haven’t decided if it was to my chagrin or not. In the meantime, I want to go back home but perhaps not just yet. I may change my mind, of course, and charge up there within the hour. Or I might stay on in DC to see Robert Frank’s The Americans, the Louise Bourgeois I regretted missing in New York, and check in on whatever is recommended at Grammar Police– I see the editor DESPERATELY NEEDS OUR HELP. In a roundabout way, I am saying “the city” is not on my mind at the moment because I am in a different one.

I’ll certainly be back well before the weekend though, when I hope you’ll join us at the New School for Girls Write Now Day on Sunday, with headliners Annette Gordon-Reed and Marlon James! [Full disclosure, as always: both Maud and I are on the board of directors].

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

MON FEB 9: “Dance New Amsterdam (DNA) is pleased to present a collaborative arts event, Isadora Goes Downtown: the woman. the inspiration. the legacy. On Monday, February 9 DNA invites art lovers to embrace Isadora at a dynamic threefold event that will include: the official opening of a mixed-media visual art exhibit linking Isadora Duncan to Lori Belilove, exploring the women, the inspiration, and the rich historical legacy of Isadora Duncan dance; a slide show of works by Sabrina Jones, author/illustrator of Isadora Duncan: A Graphic Biography; and a live performance by Lori Belilove joined by young Duncan dancers the Beliloveables.” 7PM, FREE. And, “With plenty of friends, but little money, Susy Branch and her friend Nick Lansing devise a clever scheme to live beyond their means. They’ll marry and live off the wedding presents, while they help one another trade up to suitable millionaires. The plan works perfectly — until they fall in love.” Glimpses of the Moon is a Jazz Age musical based on the novel by Edith Wharton, now playing at the Oak Room of the Algonquin Hotel. Noted, “FREE TICKET (Buy 3 tickets and your 4th is free!), Use code: FREEMOON; FREE MARTINI MONDAYS. (Enjoy free Absolut cocktails before the show!)”

TUE FEB 10: “Housing Works presents a reading and musical performance with the historian Philip Dray (Capitol Men: The Epic Story of Reconstruction Through the Lives of the First Black Congressmen) and the musician Mary Kate O’Neil. Singer-songwriter With her work previously hailed by critics as ‘deeply authentic and original’ (Rolling Stone) and ‘pure magic’ (Filter), Underground reaffirms O’Neil’s talent for heartfelt, bittersweet songwriting.” 7PM, “Admission is free, donated books are welcome and encouraged.”

WED FEB 11: The Beatrice series (I would propose, as Lord Byron suggested, “The reader is requested to adopt the Italian pronunciation of Beatrice, sounding all the syllables.”) presents novelists Karan Mahajan (Family Planning) and Diana Spechler (Who By Fire) at the Mercantile Library Center for Fiction. 7PM, FREE.

THU FEB 12 & FRI FEB 13: At The Kitchen, “Kalup Linzy is known for his absurdly humorous drag-performance-based videos in which he repurposes the narrative style of daytime television soaps in order to explore complicated relationships between race, class, gender, sexuality, and popular culture. For these evenings, he debuts a new, solo theatrical work exploring related themes, in which he plays piano, sings, and is accompanied by video projections that feature his ever-expanding cast of riotous characters.” Highly recommended. 8PM, $10 tickets.

SAT FEB 14: Freebird says, “To celebrate the one year anniversary of our post-apocalpytic book club, we will be showing some short films that will tug at any romantic heart: animated instuctions on how to survive a fallout, a Mississippi PSA about Armaggedon-proof bookmobiles, and a rare Richard Lester comedy about post-Nuclear Britain.” 7:30PM, FREE.

SUN FEB 15: As part of KGB Sunday Night Fiction, Jonathan Baumbach reads from YOU or The Invention of Memory, which you have about a week left to request a copy of for free via The New You Project [Full disclosure, as always: I am Jonathan’s publicist]. 7PM, FREE.

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

MON, FEB 2: Why not plan ahead for when New York real estate really exhausts you? “Please join Diana Leafe Christian for a presentation about ecovillages worldwide and a look at some of their successes with permaculture, renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, cottage industries, local currencies, and community programming.” At Bluestockings, 7PM, $5 suggested. The Leon Levy Center for Biography at the Graduate Center CUNY presents “Larger Than Life: Portraying the Iconic Artist,” a discussion between biographers on their subjects and challenges, with Amy Henderson (Katherine Hepburn), Patricia Bosworth (Diane Arbus, Marlon Brando) and Greg Tate (Jimi Hendrix, James Brown). At Elebash Recital Hall, The Graduate Center, CUNY, 365 Fifth Avenue (between 34th & 35th Streets). 7PM, FREE. And, Ron Hogan emcees Lady Jane’s Salon, a new reading series for romance fiction to benefit Share the Love, which “donates romance novels to non-profit, non-denominational organizations devoted to helping women live independent, self-sufficient lives.” At Madame X (94 West Houston Street). 7PM, “Admission is $5 or a paperback romance.”

TUE, FEB 3: “The Goethe-Institut New York is pleased to announce the season premiere of its hit series, “What is Green Architecture?” which spotlights next-wave pioneers in the field in conversation with curator and host Andres Lepik and brings architects and engineers to New York in order to give audiences the exclusive privilege to travel the globe via projects of the future, from Harvard’s transformative Allston Science Complex to the first carbon-neutral city, currently taking shape in the United Arab Emirates. On Tuesday evening in Avery Hall (114, lower level) at The Graduate School of Architecture, Columbia University, the young, Berlin-based, Aga Khan prize-winning architect Diébédo Francis Kéré will deliver a lecture - “Step by Step: Building Schools in Africa,” addressing his current project in his native Gando Village, Burkina Faso (already featured in The Phaidon Atlas of 21st Century World Architecture). Diébédo Francis Kéré asserts that his fondest desire as an architect is to build projects in his own village, Gando, located in the West African country of Burkina Faso, ‘which is one of the ten poorest countries in the world and has an illiteracy level of over 80%.’ To achieve sustainability, he notes that ‘the projects are based on the principles of designing for climatic comfort with low-cost construction, making the most of local materials and the potential of the local community, and adapting technology from the industrialized world in a simple way.’” 6:30PM, FREE [Full disclosure, as always: I am the publicist for this event]. Downtown, Poems & Pints, Presented by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and Poetry Society of America, Featuring poets Dana Goodyear and Matthew Zapruder at Fraunces Tavern, 54 Pearl Street (at Broad Street). 6:30PM, FREE.

WED, FEB 4: Amanda Stern’s Happy Ending Series, now at Joe’s Pub — and fancy, but not too fancy — presents Affliction Night, “Starring authors, Jayne Anne Phillips and Sarah Manguso, with musical guest Daniel Knox and members of the Broadway Cast of HAIR!” 7PM, $15 tickets. At Film Forum, The Panic in Needle Park, adapted for the screen by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne from James Mills’ book, plays through Thursday. Meanwhile in Brooklyn, “‘The “Secret Science Club’ lights up the Bell House with more far-out lectures, spectral libations, and sneakily seductive sounds as neurobiologist and Author Vincent Pieribone lectures on Glow-in-the-Dark Science. Bring your bathyspheres and prepare to submerge …. Intrepid neurobiologist, author, and scuba diver Vincent Pieribone lures the Secret Science Club into the depths—where ocean research and brain science collide. Dr. Pieribone uncovers the secrets of the seas and technicolor reefs in his quest for biofluorescent creatures—and then shows how they can be used to create glowing proteins that make cells and neurons light up in the lab. A cellular and molecular biologist at Yale University’s School of Medicine and the co-author of Aglow in the Dark: The Revolutionary Science of Biofluorescence, Dr. Pieribone asks: What do jellyfish and coral reefs have to do with the human brain and the quest for medical cures? What kinds of undersea animals glow? How can biofluorescent technology link the human mind with machines? What are the latest advances in fluorescent microscopy and micro-photography? And whatever happened to that transgenic, glow-in-the-blacklight rabbit in France?” 8PM, FREE.

THU, FEB 5: Barnes & Noble’s “Upstairs at the Square” returns with its 2009 season premiere, starring Nikki Giovanni, whose new book is Bicycles: Love Poems (HarperCollins, January 27), and Emmanuel Jal — described by Peter Gabriel as “having the potential of a young Bob Marley” — whose new book is War Child: A Child Soldier’s Story (St. Martin’s Press, February 3), who will discuss and perform their work in conversation with host Katherine Lanpher. Admission is free, and no tickets are required. Seating is available on a first-come, first-serve basis. At Barnes & Noble, Union Square. 7PM, FREE [Full disclosure, as always: I am the publicist for this event]. Uptown, Young Friends of Film at the Film Society of Lincoln Center present a screening and afterparty for Wong Kar-wai’s Days of Being Wild, described by Manohla Dargis in The New York Times as “A rapturous film about cool men, hot women and the thousand and one nights and cigarettes they share.” 7:30PM, $25 tickets. And, Stephen Elliott’s new venture, The Rumpus, introduces itself to New York with a launch party featuring “Music by Will Sheff of Okkervil River, Kristen Shaal of Flight of the Conchords, Readings from authors Andrew Sean Greer and This American Life’s Starlee Kine and much more. 7PM, $20 tickets.

FRI, FEB 6: Two current shows worth checking out are “The Last Nomads: Photographs from Inner Mongolia by A Yin” at the Rubin Museum of Art in Chelsea and “Barkley L. Hendricks: Birth of the Cool” at the Studio Museum in Harlem.

SAT, FEB 7: “Two sets of music presenting The Dreamers and the World Premiere of The Dreamers Volume 2 (O’o) in one exciting concert! Named for an extinct Hawaiian bird whose delightful song will never be sung again, O’o is the exotic and charming follow up to The Dreamers, one of John Zorn’s most appealing projects. Featuring the same dynamic band of masters from Zorn’s inner circle, O’o presents more lyrical and adventurous instrumentals exploring World Music, Surf, Exotica, Minimalism, Film Soundtracks and more.” At Abron Arts Center. 8PM, $25 tickets.

SUN, FEB 8: At The Cell Theatre in Chelsea, “’The Other Life’ is a short play based on the correspondence between Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell, illuminating their relationship both personal and professional. Q&A with actors Monique Fowler and John Wojda and Thomas Travisano and Saskia Hamilton, editors of the newly published collection of the Lowell/Bishop correspondence, Words in Air.” 5PM, $5.

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

MON, JAN 26: “In Crips and Bloods: Made In America, renowned documentarian Stacy Peralta (Dogtown and Z Boys, Riding Giants) examines the story of South Los Angeles and the gangs that inhabit it. Blending gripping archival footage and photos with in-depth interviews of current and former gang members, educators, historians, family members and experts, Peralta brings his trademark dynamic visual style and story-telling ability to this often-ignored chapter of America’s history. Hard-hitting, yet ultimately hopeful, Crips and Bloods: Made In America not only documents the emergence of the Bloods and the Crips and their growth beyond the borders of South Central, but also offers insight as to how this ongoing tragedy might be resolved.” Showing one week only (through Friday) at IFC. Highly recommended. And, Charles Bock fans take note: he’s at McNally Jackson on Monday evening to discuss the making of Beautiful Children with his editor, David Ebershoff. 7PM, FREE.

TUE, JAN 27: “Housing Works Bookstore and Granta present a Night on Fathers with award-winning novelist Jonathan Lethem (Motherless Brooklyn) and international bestseller Joseph O’Neill (Netherland) for a reading from Granta 104: the “Fathers” issue. Following the reading, Granta US editor John Freeman will moderate a conversation between O’Neill and Lethem about the tricky art of writing about their fathers, literary forefathers, their fathers’ reactions to their work, and the best literature on fathers they have come across in their own reading.” 7PM, “Admission is free, donated books are welcome and encouraged.” And, 192 Books hosts an evening with Stacey D’Erasmo: “In The Sky Below, Stacey D’Erasmo creates a character—and a world—characterized by Cornell-like boxes.” 7PM, FREE.

WED, JAN 28: Wildly creative playwright Clay McLeod Chapman is set to blow minds at 92YTribeca: “Inspired by the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, Teaser Cow is set in the wild place where Greek mythology meets Fast Food Nation. Fast-paced, intense and satirical, Teaser Cow explores how and why we create society’s darkest monsters out of our deepest fears. Founded in 2000, One Year Lease is a New York-based, internationally-touring theater company made up of American and international artists who share a love for the classics.” Highly recommended. 7PM, $10. Also, The Beatrice series (I would propose, as Lord Byron suggested, “The reader is requested to adopt the Italian pronunciation of Beatrice, sounding all the syllables.”) presents novelists Jennifer Cody Epstein (The Painter from Shanghai) and Fiona Maazel (Last Last Chance) at the Mercantile Library Center for Fiction. Also highly recommended. 7PM, FREE.

THU, JAN 29: At McNally Jackson, Indie Press Night focuses on Persea Books and two of its luminaries: Sarah Gambito is the director of the Asian American poetry organization Kundiman; her new poetry collection portrays immigrant identity with revealing Surrealist imagery. Patrick Rosal’s electric narratives and portraits are modeled on the kundiman, a love song sung by Filipinos for their country in times of oppression. 7PM, FREE. At KGB, a reading for the new issue of The New York Tyrant, “a tri-quarterly literary magazine based in Hell’s Kitchen, focusing on the immediacy of the short story,” highlights contributors Eva Talmadge, Justin Taylor and Brad Gayman. 7PM, FREE. Also worth mentioning, photographer Michal Chelbin will discuss “her first monograph, Strangely Familiar, a provocative collection of photographs that depicts performers and wrestlers from small towns in the Ukraine, Eastern Europe, England and Israel,” at The Strand. 7PM, FREE.

WEEKEND: On Friday night at Japan Society, “Born in Vancouver in 1931, Kazuko Shiraishi is one of Japan’s foremost poets. Influenced by abstract art, experimental literature, and avant-garde jazz, she is beloved by readers around the world for her humane vision: through her poems she “meets her living self/pretending to be a dead body but fully alive.” The new collection, My Floating Mother, City, contains poems from her most recent books published in Japan, including The Running of the Full Moon (2004) and My Floating Mother, City (2003), which received the Bansui Poetry Award and a Cultural Award from the Emperor of Japan. Also included in the book are three long sequences including Sendai Metro, Greece Street, translated for the first time into English, and Little Planet, translated on a paper napkin by Allen Ginsberg. The program features a collaboration with jazz trumpeter Oki Itaru. Moderated by Forrest Gander, author and Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Brown University. Followed by a reception.” Highly recommended. 6:30PM, tickets are $10.

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

The Highlight Reel Edition

WED, JAN 7: If you don’t have tickets yet for Amanda Stern’s Happy Ending Series Premiere at Joe’s Pub, you’re out of luck, so while we’re all clicking “refresh, refresh” for the Richard Price re-cap on her post-show blog, see if you can get tix for the next one. Meanwhile, Eric and Eliza Obenauf of Two Dollar Radio are making a rare appearance in New York from their undisclosed Midwestern location for Amy Koppelman’s reading for I Smile Back at Barnes & Noble on the Upper West Side (Broadway at 82nd). I’ll be there. 7PM, FREE.

THU, JAN 8: Starting this week as part of the Under The Radar Festival, and running through February at the Goethe-Institut New York, next-wave theater provocateurs Rimini Protokoll stage “Call Cutta in a Box”: “You open the door and you find a phone ringing… The story emerges as you realize that the caller and you and your city are at the center of the plot.” Full details can be found here [Full disclosure as always, I am the publicist for this project].

SUN, JAN 11: At Good World, Rosie Schaap, author of the forthcoming essay collection Drinking With Men, throws a launch party for Jami Attenberg, author of the newly released (in paperback) novel, The Kept Man, joined on the bill by special guest Wendy McClure (I’m Not the New Me). 5PM, FREE.

Looking ahead: next week Alina Simone appears at the Russian Samovar with Sam Lipsyte (thanks to David from Largehearted Boy for the tip!).

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

The “Over and Out” Edition

I love doing events for work, and love attending events in general due to my insistent belief that “everything happens at parties” (cribbed from an abstract of an article in an obscure periodical found in an only slightly less obscure periodical), and New York is the best city in the world for all that. Nonetheless I’m taking it easy for a change and The Smart Set will return in January. On my agenda for the rest of the month:

MON, DEC 8: Kurt Andersen, Evan Wright and Jeanne Marie Laskas, contributors to The Best American Magazine Writing, will be reading from their work at the Half King. Highly recommended. 7PM, FREE.

SUN, DEC 14: Good Words at Good World does the “Anti-Holiday” thing (as I’ve been known to do, having spent perhaps my favorite Christmas Eve at that bar having a drink with my dear brother at midnight), featuring a “Greatest Hits” roster of reading past, with Max Blagg, Kristin McGonigle and our own Maud Newton. Essential. 5PM, FREE.

And Amanda Stern’s Happy Ending series wraps up its residency with two final shows, on the 10th and the 17th.

Plus, ongoing: “The Film Society proudly presents Spanish Cinema Now, December 5 – 24, one of the Walter Reade Theater’s longest-running series. This year, get a chance to discover how Spanish filmmakers are breathing new life into tried-and-true genre tales with 4 outstanding thrillers, including [Rec], a proud, offbeat, addition to the tradition of Spanish horror films. This premiere showcase for Spanish cinema features 20 premieres and works such as Before the Fall and Timecrimes that offer a distinctive brand of science fiction.”

As for me, I’ll be here and there, maybe dropping by the Guggenheim to spend some time with Joseph Cornell’s Setting for a Fairytale, as ever the plan…

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

MON DEC 1: The Writers Read series presents Stephanie Dickinson, whose new novel is Half Girl (Spuyten Duyvil); short story writer Sally McElwain, who will read from “Pandora in Brooklyn”; and Lawrence Shainberg, whose new novel is Crust (Two Dollar Radio) [Full disclosure, as always: Larry is one of my publicity clients]. At Cornelia Street Cafe, the almost unfathomably charming artists’ enclave, which has long hosted cultural notables such as Suzanne Vega, Eve Ensler, Oliver Sacks, and poet-senator Eugene McCarthy in the heart of Greenwich Village. 6PM, Cover $7 (includes one house drink).

TUE DEC 2: Near Union Square, Idlewild Books is having a War and Peace party with “vodka punch, Russian snacks and live viola music (including some of Tolstoy’s favorites)”. 7PM, FREE. Uptown hipsters should swing by Bookculture for Mickey Hess and Jack Sullivan (and free booze): “Mickey will be reading from his new memoir about life as an academic, Big Wheel at the Cracker Factory (Garrett County Press; November 2008), which Joe Meno declared ‘an absolute winner.’ Jack will discuss his book Hitchcock’s Music, a fascinating look into the importance of soundtrack in Hitchcock’s films which NPR declared ‘big on suspense.’” 7PM, FREE. Midtown hipsters, I don’t know what to tell you.

WED DEC 3: “This December, Les Freres Corbusier transforms the Ohio Theater into a fully immersive, bombed-out discothèque as we fuse unmerciful Japanese rave music with deeply regrettable sophomoric comedy in this one-of-a-kind, futuristic dance spectacular, Dance Dance Revolution. Riffing on fizzy dance musicals like Flashdance and death sport movies such as Rollerball, Dance Dance Revolution is like Footloose set in the future—but much scarier, and with 50 really attractive, barely-clothed young actors and buckets of free beer.” $18, performances through December 20.

THU DEC 4: “The Goethe-Institut New York presents the next edition of ‘What is Green Architecture?’, featuring Stefan Behnisch in conversation with Andres Lepik at The Architectural League of New York. This season, we’ve explored promising cities with zero-emissions pioneer Steffen Lehmann and the spectacular concepts that exist beyond ‘just a building’ with avant-garde instigator Friedrich von Borries. For our final talk of the year, we’ll consider the campus of the future with Stefan Behnisch, who’s currently showing them how it’s done at Harvard, where’s he designing the university’s high-profile new Allston science complex” [Full disclosure, as always: I am the publicist for this series]. 7PM, FREE.

FRI DEC 5: “Please join us for The Correspondences Party, a celebration of New Yorker editor and author Ben Greenman’s new collaborations with Hotel St. George and Jack Spade — and with complimentary cocktails — at Idlewild Books. For this special evening, we will debut “The Correspondences Cocktail,” the intriguing creation of mixologist-to-the-stars St. John Frizell” [Full disclosure, as always: Ben is one of my publicity clients and I put this event together]. 6:30-8:30PM; FREE, but reservations are required: [email protected].

SAT DEC 6: Why not spend an afternoon at the movies with your vampire adaptation of choice? I vote for Let The Right One In, “a story both violent and highly romantic, set in the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg in 1982.” And, the 21st Indie & Small Press Book Fair kicks off.

SUN DEC 7: At the Indie & Small Press Book Fair, “The Future of Independent Publishing”: “As new technologies once again turn the publishing world on its ear, small presses are surviving–and thriving–by embracing alternative publishing models, from limited editions that treat books as collectable objects to innovative multi-media that make digital books more fluid, interactive and open source. In a conversation led by Buzz Poole (Managing Editor, Mark Batty Publisher), Alex Rose (Publisher, Hotel St. George Press), Ben Greenman (Editor, The New Yorker), Matvei Yankelevich (Founding Editor, Ugly Duckling Presse), and Dan Visel (Future of the Book) discuss how to maintain the dynamic relationship between publisher, author and reader in the digital age, and how to create books that reflect and respond to our interactive cultural landscape.” 2PM, FREE. In Brooklyn, pretend to be too focused on rolling that cigarette to notice the Fairway across the street, and amble on nonplussed down to the waterfront, my little bohemians, as Gabriel Cohen’s Sundays at Sunny’s presents an afternoon of eclectic entertainment with Nick Flynn (Another Bullshit Night in Suck City), Karan Mahajan (Family Planning) and Amanda Petrusich (It Still Moves: Lost Songs, Lost Highways and the Search for the Next American Music). 3:00pm, FREE.

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

MON, NOV 10: Monday evening, join us for a glass of wine and The New Indie Novel Night, featuring Lawrence Shainberg (Crust, Two Dollar Radio, October) and Anne Landsman (The Rowing Lesson, Soho Press, November) at Book Culture [Full disclosure, as always: I put this event together and Shainberg and Landsman are my publicity clients]. 7PM, FREE.

TUE, NOV 11: “Adult Education welcomes a panel of presenters to speak on the theme of “Lies and Liars.” The line-up will include: D.E. Rasso, Lee Israel, Jill Stoddard, and Jim Hanas. All hosted by comedian Charles Star.” 8PM, $5.

WED, NOV 12: Nathaniel Bellows, who I met at not one but two rooftop masquerade parties at the Hotel Chelsea last week, reads his poems at Mixer. I expect to be highly entertained once again. 7PM, FREE. Also appealing: Amanda Stern’s Happy Ending, Littoral with John Reed and Michael Kimball.

THU, NOV 13: The iconic Paul Simon appears “One on One Live” with host Katherine Lanpher at the Union Square Barnes & Noble [Full disclosure, as always: I am the publicist for this event]. 7PM, FREE. And, Idlewild Books hosts a little party for Istanbul Noir,which sounds hot. 7PM, FREE.

FRI, NOV 14: At Village East, the New York premiere of War Child, “an award-winning documentary directed by C. Karim Chrobog, chronicles the tumultuous, shocking, inspiring, and ultimately hopeful odyssey of Emmanuel Jal. A former child soldier of Sudan’s brutal civil war, he is now an emerging international hip hop star sharing a message of peace for his war-torn land and his beloved Africa. In many ways, Jal’s life story mirrors his homeland: tragedy and terror mingling with hope and restoration.” Through November 20.

SAT, NOV 15: Counting the minutes ’til I can check out William Eggleston: Democratic Camera at The Whitney. Until then, I will console myself with his hilarious cameo in Cat Power’s video for “Lived in Bars.”

SUN, NOV 16: Lawrence Shainberg, author of Crust, reads as part of KGB’s Sunday Night Fiction along with Peter Selgin (Drowning Lessons; University of Georgia Press; Winner, 2007 Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction) and Molly McNett (One Dog Happy; University of Iowa Press, 2008; Winner, John Simmons Short Fiction Award). 7PM, FREE.

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

MON, NOV 3: Tonight at Barbés, Brooklyn Independent screens Karl Rove, I Love You: “A documentary on the ‘unknown supporting actor’ takes a surprising turn when the lead of the film (Dan Butler; ‘Bulldog’ from the television series ‘Frasier’) becomes smitten with the idea of playing Karl Rove, President Bush’s notorious senior advisor. Initially bent on bringing Rove down, as Butler gets deeper and deeper into his role, he actually falls in love with Rove.” 7PM, FREE.

TUE, NOV 4: “Deer Americans, Deer World. This November 4th, ASS is extremely proud to present a new sculpture HISTORY by Shanghai artist Xu Han Wei. This is the first time Han Wei will be showing in America and We Look Forward to Celebrating this Historic Night with him. *Xu Han Wei has choosen not to give any press release for this show as he feels that an English translation of his statement from Chinese will not be appropriate. Instead the artist will be present himself to read his statement during the opening. 6-9pm, Asia Song Society, 45 Canal Street.” Also, Housing Works holds an election day sale and party.

WED, NOV 5: At Idlewild Books, which I have a mad crush on (as does everybody else): “Leonie Swann made a stunning literary debut with Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story. When George, a beloved Irish shepherd who reads to his flock, is found dead in the meadow with a spade in his chest, Miss Maple, ruminating, intelligent sheep that she is, enlists the help of various members of her flock in finding out who did George in. With her mix of humor and ovine insight, Swann convinces readers that even given their woolgathering inclinations, sheep can set their minds on finding a killer when there’s mischief ahoof. Leonie Swann reads from Three Bags Full at Idlewild Books, and talks with critic John Freeman, former president of the National Book Critics Circle and author of an upcoming book on the tyranny of e-mail.” 7PM, FREE.

THU, NOV 6: “Correspondences (Edition of 250, $50), the daring new story collection by New Yorker editor Ben Greenman will be published by Akashic imprint Hotel St. George Press as the first in a collectible, limited edition series. Equal parts short story collection, artbook, and independent publishing manifesto, Correspondences launches at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum with a party featuring special guest Arthur Nersesian, recently profiled in the NYT for his Robert Moses-inspired story circle, plus complimentary beer and wine.” [Full disclosure, as always: Ben is one of my publicity clients] 6:30PM, FREE.

FRI, NOV 7: Usually on Friday nights I stay in and read Arthur, the only magazine to which I subscribe.

SAT, NOV 8: “Iranian American Writers: The Next Generation is co-sponsored by the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, ArteEast, and the Association of Iranian American Writers. Grove Press author Porochista Khakpour will be reading from her award-winning debut Sons and Other Flammable Objects, joined by Roger Sedarat (Dear Regime: Letters to the Islamic Republic), Aphrodite Desiree Navab (Tales Left Untold and Re-Collecting Iran), and Manijeh Nasrabadi (Souvenir). Reading will be followed by book signing. The event will take place at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop. 6PM, FREE.

SUN, NOV 9: “Jeffery Renard Allen will read from his new collection of short stories, HOLDING PATTERN, at the Sunday Best Reading Series (116 Pinehurst Avenue, #C-42, New York, NY / 212-928-4227). He will also be reading with novelist Lore Segal. Jeffery Renard Allen can discuss: The role of African-American writers in the U.S., Magic and myth in U.S. culture, Illiteracy in Africa and what he is doing to change it. Learn more about Jeffery Renard Allen’s work in Africa at panafricanliteraryforum.org.” 4PM, FREE.

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

MON OCT 27: At The Half King, “Dexter Filkins is among the best foreign correspondents at work today, and has reported extensively from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq for the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times (where he continues to work today.) The Forever War is his searing and personal account of the rise of the Taliban, 9/11, and the Iraq War as he saw it unfold on the ground in the very places these events took place—imbedded with Marines as they stormed Fallujah to overthrow Muqtada al Sadr’s army in 2004; at a soccer field in Kabul, before 9/11, witness to an execution and amputation carried out by the Taliban; at the World Trade Center on that fateful day when lower Manhattan resembled, for a moment, the war-torn countries from which he had been reporting.” 7PM, FREE. Also, ” High Energy Performance Poetry & Prose” at Bluestockings. 7PM, FREE.

TUE OCT 28: At Bellwether Gallery: “I, Caligula! An orgiastic October surprise of cocktails and virgin sacrifice in honor of the new book by Caligula (and Cintra Wilson) Caligula for President: Better American Living Through Tyranny…” With Cintra Wilson, Bradford Louryk, Mike Albo, Shelly Mars, Peter Freschette, Charles Busch. Noted: “SPECIAL PRIZES FOR THOSE DRESSED IN HIGH CALIGULAN DRAG. NO KNIVES!” 7 - 9PM, FREE.

WED OCT 29: “2 days before Halloween…6 days before the election… 1 night of politics and pop culture: IDOL TALK. Featuring videos and performances from Maxx Klaxon, David Rees, R. Luke DuBois, Rusty Ward, and more! Find out how we got from ‘gentlemen’ to ‘terror’ in 43 easy steps; Eavesdrop on the political banter of your favorite clip-art office workers; Learn who America’s greatest superheroes are voting for; Groove to the beat of Bill O’Reilly’s rage; See the shocking season finale of ‘Authoritarian Idol.’ Come on out (and bring your friends) for the four-screen multimedia experience, Monkeytown’s excellent food and drinks, and this fall’s best night of political art and entertainment! NOTE: This event is one night only, and seating is limited — reservations are strongly recommended! RSVP online. 8:30-10pm, $7 ($5 with politically-themed costume!).” Highly recommended.

THU OCT 30: “William Carlos Williams wrote: ‘It is difficult/to get the news from poems/ yet men die miserably every day/ for lack/ of what is found there.’ Join the contributors to the Wave Books anthology State of the Union: 50 Political Poems to get the news in Linda Pollack’s Habeas Lounge in the week of the Presidential election.” With John Ashbery, Eileen Myles, Nick Flynn and others in the Amie and Tony James Gallery at The Graduate Center, CUNY. 6:30PM, FREE.

FRI OCT 31: I would not be described as a “festive holiday” person. Last night over over an exquisite meal at the charming French diner, Zucco, a pal and I were discussing which sucks more, Halloween or St. Patrick’s Day and I was just like, ugh, draw! I am, however, going to make a rare exception to my usual practice of ignoring the day completely by attending this lecture: Marina Warner on “Enchanted States” at The Graduate Center, CUNY’s Martin E. Segal Theatre. Noted, “Marina Warner explores the manifestations of traditional magical thought in contemporary culture and media. Marina Warner is a Professor of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies at the University of Essex, and the author of several studies of belief and narrative, most recently Phantasmagoria: Spirit Visions, Metaphors, and Media into the Twenty-first Century.” Awe-some; I’ll dress up as Titania for that. 4PM, FREE.

WEEKEND: Don’t miss the Los Dias de los Muertos (Days of the Dead) celebration at the National Museum of the American Indian, easily one of New York’s best and most underrated museums. At MoMA, check out “Batiste Madalena: Hand-Painted Film Posters for the Eastman Theatre, 1924–1928″: “In advance of seeing the films themselves, and influenced by his passion for particular performers, Madalena would work from still photographs and press materials to create one-of-a-kind posters promoting his larger-than-life subjects—all on a scale that could be clearly seen from streetcars passing the theater’s poster vitrines. His work brings unexpected color and a new perspective to the iconic stars and films of silent cinema’s mature period.” With a companion film series starting next month.

This week’s soundtrack: The Chromatics do “I’m on Fire.”

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

The “3 or 4 Reasons to Leave the House” Edition

TUE, OCT 14: “At the Architectural League of New York, in conversation with Andres Lepik, Friedrich von Borries will discuss his perspective as general commissioner for the German contribution to the 2008 Venice Architecture Biennale, and co-director of raumtaktik, the “agency for spatial investigation and intervention” in Berlin. And something about Brad Pitt (please note: this event will be conducted in perfect English) [Full disclosure, as always: I am the publicist for this series]. 7PM, Admission is free, and reservations are required ([email protected]).

THU, OCT 16: Last edition of Barnes & Noble’s “Upstairs at the Square” until 2009! Alaa al Aswany, author of Chicago (HarperCollins, October 7) and Rachael Yamagata, whose new album is A Record In Two Parts: Elephants… Teeth Sinking Into Heart (Warner Bros. Records, October 7), discuss and perform their work in conversation with journalist Katherine Lanpher, who hosts the program [Full disclosure, as always: I am very involved with this project]. 7PM, FREE.

FRI, OCT 17: New Yorker editor and darling of indie publishing Ben Greenman reads from his forthcoming Correspondences (Hotel St. George Press, November) as part of the PAGE Series at the National Arts Club. Where and how else could you celebrate Eminem’s 36th birthday? Fighting in the bathroom optional [Full disclosure, as always: Ben is one of my publicity clients]. 7:30PM, FREE (note: jacket required for gents).

THE REST OF THE WEEK:

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

The “Late for Lunch” Edition

MON SEP 22: At McNally Jackson, “Tom Piazza’s nonfiction book Why New Orleans Matters defined New Orleanians’ response to Hurricane Katrina and its devastation of the people and culture of that great city. Piazza’s new novel, City of Refuge (HarperCollins) traces the stories of two families, one white and one black, as their lives are torn apart by the storm and then slowly stitched back together in its aftermath.” 7PM, FREE.

TUE SEP 23: Young Friends of Film says, “celebrate Sardinia Regional Tourism’s sponsorship of the New York Film Festival by seeing this new, beautifully-filmed feature shot on the spectacular island of Sardinia! Sonetaula tells the story of a young boy in the idyllic Sardinian countryside who grows up to become a man on the run from both the law and his own past. This moving, historical drama was an official selection of the 2008 Berlin and Los Angeles film festivals.” 7PM, $20 (”Tix include free popcorn, soda, and the catered reception with drinks and hors d’oeuvres”). And, “Reading Burma: A Benefit for Cyclone Relief and Freedom of Expression in Burma/Myanmar With Nobel Prize laureate Orhan Pamuk, Booker Prize winners Salman Rushdie and Kiran Desai, the Venerable Ashin Gawsita, Siri Hustvedt, Joseph Lelyveld, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, George Packer, and other special guests… In addition to the readings of Burmese writers’ work, some of which includes unpublished accounts from the cyclone-affected areas of Burma, The New Yorker’s George Packer will join Venerable Ashin Gawsita, one of the leaders of the 2007 Monks’ Uprising, in conversation” at the Great Hall at Cooper Union. 7PM, $100/$20/$15 tickets available via smarttix.com.

WED SEP 24: Rick Moody and Hannah Marcus will be “reading and singing” at “WORD, an independent bookstore located on the corner of Franklin and Milton Streets in the historic district of Greenpoint Brooklyn.” 7:30PM, FREE.

THU SEP 25: “Electric Pear presents a night of short plays by three of the brightest lights in American drama — Clay McLeod Chapman, Zayd Dohrn and Ann Marie Healy. Grab your hall pass and join us at Village Community School for three unique takes on the parent teacher conference!” (Four performances from September 24-27). Highly recommended. 8PM, $18.

WEEKEND: Remember when magazine covers said something besides “that actress is doing something really bad to her face”? Visit MoMA for “George Lois: The Esquire Covers.”

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication. Due to the volume of submissions, events cannot be considered unless the date appears in the subject line of your message.
 

MON, MAY 19: Monday evening, innovative architect Christoph Ingenhoven and Andres Lepik of MoMA discuss next-wave trends in the field as part of “What is Green Architecture?” at the Goethe-Institut New York [Full disclosure, as always: one of my PR projects]. 7PM, FREE.

TUE, MAY 20: Says PEN, “Cynthia Ozick, winner of this year’s PEN/Nabokov Award, will read at KGB Bar, along with Alex Mindt (Bingham finalist), Theresa Nelson (Naylor Fellow), and Margaret Jull Costa (PEN Translation Prize), in a celebration of the PEN Literary Awards. The evening will be hosted by Elissa Schappell, the chair of the PEN Awards Committee and a co-founder of Tin House.” 7PM, FREE.

WED, MAY 21: Promising new reading series alert! “Facts and Fictions at the Montauk Club is a monthly prose reading series held at the historic Montauk Club on Grand Army Plaza in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The series is free and open to the public. Hosted by Luis Jaramillo… Abigail Thomas reads from her new book Thinking About Memoir and Alison Hart reads from her novel-in-progress.” 7PM, free but reservations requested.

THU, MAY 22: Last week a friend texted me to ask what he should do with a layover in Brussels. “Go see The Death of Marat,” I replied. Do you have a favorite painting in New York? Email me (address above) and I’ll share your suggestions in next week’s edition of The Smart Set. I am always seeking that moment of discovery. In the meantime, “Nepal in Black and White” at the Rubin Museum intrigues…

FRI, MAY 23: At Issue Project Room, “David Ohle will be making a very special and somewhat hyped appearance at IPR this Friday in support of his new novel from Soft Skull/Counterpoint, The Pisstown Chaos. Brian Evenson will be coming in from Providence to join him. Music will be provided by Nat Baldwin, who’s recorded with everyone from the Anthony Braxton to The Dirty Projectors. Should be a great night and we’re just trying to get Ohle as big a crowd as possible since he’s flying in on his own dime,” says friend of The Smart Set Tony Antoniadis. Highly recommended. 8PM. And, “Spaces of Negotiation,” featuring the Berlin-based group of architects ifau and Jesko Fezer, opens at Ludlow 38 on Firday night, with a special event on Saturday night [Full disclosure, as always: one of my PR projects].

WEEKEND: C-h-i-l-l-a-x.

See also: Chicago, where I’m off to the Pilcrow Lit Fest!