The Read: June 22-June 28, 2010

 

7:30pm, 43 Franklin Street

Booze, books and baked goods — need we say more? SeriousEats.com food writer Lucy Baker stops by WORD tonight to share tips, tricks, and tastes from her upcoming cookbook Spirited Sweets. The book includes 75 recipes — peach cobbler, profiteroles, chocolate cupcakes — all with a healthy dose of alcohol. Sidebars have extra tips on substitutes, preparation, and ingredient history.

 

 

7pm, 163 Court Street

In the sequel to his successful Less Than Zero, Bret Easton Ellis returns to the same characters, 25 years later. Our main character, Clay, longs for his youth while he looks for young actors to star in his '80s period film. His friend Julian runs a teenage hooker business, and his friend Rip has become completely disfigured due to his obsession with plastic surgery.

 

 

7pm, 163 Court Street

Tonight you have the rare opportunity to see the inner workings of one of the most praised literary magazines. Editors of the summer edition of The Paris Review visit BookCourt tonight to talk about submissions, editing, curation, how art is chosen, and the multimedia elements that go into production. Readings and discussion of the book's photo essays, narratives, and poems will also occur.

 

7:30pm, 686 Fulton Street

Join Greenlight Bookstore for their new monthly poetry slam series, presented by Inside Out Tours. Tonight, the award-winning Brooklyn performance poet Mo Beasley hosts the event, which follows the standard three round rules and is open to performers of all ages. First place wins a free tour with Inside Out, and runners-up receive poetry books from Greenlight.

 

8pm, 123 Columbia Street

It's the last week of Reader in Residence Nathan Ward's curated film series at Freebird. The 1960 classic, Murder Inc., closes the series tonight. Peter Falk stars as the mob turncoat, Abe "Kid Tist" Reles, the Brooklyn gangster who revealed the personalities, crimes, and existence of the organization that came to be called 'Murder Inc.'

 

 

7pm, 540 Metropolitan Avenue

Megan Kelso, master of the cartoon short story, visits the comic book store Desert Island to read from and celebrate the release of her first new book in four years. Kelso spent six years creating Artichoke Tales, a family saga that spans three generations and an entire continent.

 

7:30pm, 43 Franklin Street

Are you a Brooklyn writer working on your latest story? Do you need a second (or third or fourth) opinion on plot, characters, or how to end it? Then grab your manuscript and head to WORD for the bi-monthly literary open mic series, Just Working on My Novel. Critically acclaimed author Gabrielle Zevin will be there to offer feedback, and she'll be reading from her latest, The Hole We're In, as well as an unpublished work. If you think you'll be too nervous to read, that's why there will be wine.

 

 

12-4pm, 290 Conover St. at the water

Head to Red Hook for an afternoon of watery readings. The inaugural Waterfront Book Festival features a dozen authors and performers, including Reader in Residence Nathan Ward. Refreshments will be served courtesy of The Fairway Market and Arizona Iced-Tea.

 

 

7:30pm, 686 Fulton Street

To cap off their month of literary events, Greenlight is partnering with four of Brooklyn's independent literary magazines for a special event on the last day of FAB Fest. Editors from A Public Space, Armchair/Shotgun, BOMB, and Electric Literature will introduce readings from one of their contributing authors. Make sure you stop by Greenlight's table at the Fest during the day to enter to win some great literary prizes.

 

 

7:30pm, 686 Fulton Street

A book about finance may seem like a total snoozefest, but Diary of a Very Bad Year: Confessions of an Anonymous Hedge Fund Manager is anything but. Tonight, author Keith Gessen visits Greenlight to discuss the book, which is a compilation of two years worth of interviews with a hedge fund manager who has an inside understanding of the death of Bear Stearns, the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the plunging dollar, the bailouts, and the Madoff scandal.

 

6pm, 43 Franklin Street

If you were too nervous to share your unpublished work at WORD's literary open mic night, tonight you have another chance to get some healthy feedback. Join other local writers for an evening of discussion and constructive criticism. The workshop is open to all genres in any stage of development.