The Read: August 3-August 9, 2010

 

7pm, 37 Main Street

Described as "travel journalism in your own neighborhood," Taylor Plimpton's debut book takes us behind the velvet rope on a single night out with friends in Manhattan's exclusive nightclub scene. Notes from the Night is a personal, funny, and insightful account of having a good time in the city that never sleeps. Join Plimpton tonight to celebrate the release of the book with wine from the Brooklyn Wine Exchange. Plimpton will read a few excerpts, sharing his savvy advice, spot-on commentary, and casual, yet confessional, narrative.

 

 

7pm, 37 Main Street

Put your imagination to work tonight. Brooklyn artist and author Diana Schoenbrun brings her creative designs from her new book Beasties: How to Make 22 Mischievous Monsters That Go Bump in the Night to PowerHouse Arena. Using simple materials like scrap fabric and thread, Schoenbrun shows us how to make creepy characters of all kinds, from witches to werewolves to yetis. Bring the kids along for a fun and crafty evening.

 

7:30pm, 63 Pearl Street

Love sports and books? Head to DUMBO for this month's installment of the Gelf Varsity Letters reading series. Beth Raymer, Paul Solotaroff, and Joseph E. Wallace will read from and talk about their work. Raymer will recount her experience as a girl Friday for a Vegas sports-gambling operator, Solotaroff will describe his steroids-fueled, bodybuilding youth, and Wallace will read from his novel inspired by Jackie Mitchell, the 17-year-old woman who struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in 1931

 

7:30pm, 126 Franklin Street

Are you writing a book? Are you stumped on plot line, character personalities or scene description? Bring your in-progress manuscript to WORD Bookstore tonight for an open editing and reading session. This month's host is Frank Anthony Polito, acclaimed author of suitable-for-Young-Adults-but-awesome-for-adults novels Band Fags and Drama Queers. If you're working on a YA story, now is the perfect opportunity to get feedback from a master of the genre. Don't worry, there will be wine to calm your nerves.

 

8pm, 123 Columbia Street

In August of 1972, a Chase bank in Gravesend was robbed and the manager was taken hostage, but the seige quickly went awry and devolved into an absurd, sweaty standoff with the police and the FBI that wasn't even taken seriously by a hostage, suggesting this was no run-of-the-mill bank robbery. The unusual event inspired the film Dog Day Afternoon, showing tonight at Freebird as part of Books Through Bars.

 

 

8pm, 618 St. John's Place

With a theme of "Hilarity and Heartbreak," tonight's installment of the Franklin Park Reading Series is not to be missed. Aryn Kyle, Jon Friedman, Olena Jennings, and Justin Mitchell will share excerpts from their latest work. Whether the subject is romantic yearning, thwarted ambition or an absurdist dystopia, these New York authors find humor in life’s most poignant moments.