The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30pm 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 lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication, with the date in the subject line.
MONDAY, 5.14: The Reader’s Room at Mo Pitkin’s presents “Tin House Night,” featuring debut authors Josh Goldfaden (Human Resources) and Mary Otis (Yes, Yes, Cherries). 7PM, one drink minimum. And, buzzed-about novelist Amity Gaige reads from her latest, The Folded World, “the story of an idealistic young social worker drawn into the lives of his mentally ill clients,” at Barnes and Noble, Astor Place. 7PM, FREE. Also, “Join contributors, readers, and friends of Esopus to celebrate the release of our latest issue at New York City’s Center For Architecture (just down the block from the Esopus office). The evening will include a special performance by Philadelphia-based Headlong Dance Theater, whose article about their groundbreaking 2006 piece Cell appears in the issue. Shipping this week, the issue includes artists’ projects by Dawn Clements, Neil Goldberg, and Allen Ruppersberg, as well as the maps and transit systems of Neil Greenberg, a found love letter between 1970s revolutionaries, a decor artist’s anonymous reflections on her profession, and new fiction from Stuart Nadler.” 6 – 9PM.
TUESDAY, 5.15: I have no idea what this book is about but anyone named Glasgow has to be totally cute, clever and charming, right? Or, you know “rough as f***” if it’s a true homage. Unfounded speculation aside, “Glasgow Phillips, author of the memoir THE ROYAL NONESUCH: Or, What Will I Do When I Grow Up will be in New York, reading at the Astor Place Barnes and Noble.” Check it out. 7PM, FREE.
WEDNESDAY, 5.16: Dana Vachon (Mergers and Acquisitions), Min Jin Lee (Free Food for Millionaires) and others read sexy stuff as part of the In the Flesh series at Happy Ending [Full disclosure, as always: Min Jin is one of my PR clients]. 8PM, FREE. In the 718, Gabriel Cohen celebrates the publication of his new novel, Boombox, already garnering some serious accolades, at BookCourt. 7:30PM, FREE.
THURSDAY, 5.17: Brilliantly crafted short stories get a much-deserved night out as Lorrie Moore reads at Barnes & Noble, Union Square with British cult favorite Helen Simpson (In the Driver’s Seat), who Jay McInerney makes sound utterly irresistible in a NYTBR review from a few years ago: “‘And where, ladies and gentlemen, where would we be without poetry?’ one windbag asks, as the crowd drinks, flirts and networks…The evening ends on a perfectly ludicrous note of violence.” 7PM, FREE. Plus, Hotel Chelsea Blogger Ed Hamilton reads as part of Drunken! Careening! Writers! at KGB, where the organizers posit that “the drinks are pretty and the boys and girls are relatively cheap.” I’ll drink to that. 7PM, FREE.
FRIDAY, 5.18: One for the country house crowd– Christine Boyka Kluge reads at Katonah Art Center, 131 Bedford Road (opposite the A&P), refreshments will be served. 7:30PM, FREE.
SATURDAY, 5.19: All day is the new Saturday night: Olive Juice Music Festival runs from 1pm – 9pm at Cake Shop.
SUNDAY, 5.20: “Sunday with the Magazine” presents conversations on topics explored in NYT-published magazines.
Soundtrack to this week’s edition: Julie Doiron, “No More.”