10.11: One Story has three stories in the new ‘100 Distinguished Stories’ of Best American Short Stories 2004. Hedge your bets for next year by attending Monday evening’s reading, thereby ensuring that you can brag about what an early adopter you were if this month’s reader, Joanna Hershon, makes it into B.A.S.S. 2005. 7:00pm, FREE.
10.12: Emerging writer Joanne Jacobson and Monique Truong, author of the bestselling debut novel The Book of Salt, read their work at Cupcake, the reading series (that I co-direct) for New York’s best women writers. 7:30pm, FREE.
10.13: Even demi-author Paris Hilton would have to admit that Graham Greene is so hot right now. Writers and critics Pico Ayer, James Wood, and Laura Miller get together for a sure to be lively discussion of the man and his work, entitled, “A Sort of Life: Graham Greene at 100,” at the New York Public Library. 6:30pm, $10.
10.14: The Poetry Society of America and the New School Graduate Writing Program present an evening with Walter Mosley, Donna Masini, Grace Paley, and Marie Howe. Novelist Mosley introduces poetry readings by Masini, Paley and Howe. 7:30pm, $7.
10.15: Recipe for a sweet Friday evening: Pick up some free PRB and a few social pointers, and get lucky when Maud reads. 7:30pm, FREE.
10.16: Join those looking at the stars for a day of carousing and espousing as The Oscar Wilde Society of America celebrates the 150th anniversary of the writer’s birth. 12:00pm, $25.
10.17: “Inspired by the models of punk rock tours and vaudevillian variety shows” and “held in bookstores, bars, cafes and galleries,” The Perpetual Motion Roadshow “promises lively performances with the guarantee: No Boring Readings or Your Money Back!” The party bus rolls up to The Lucky Cat in Williamsburg on Sunday for its New York stop. 8:00pm, “pay what you can.”
The Smart Set is a weekly column, edited by Lauren Cerand, that appears Mondays 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 submit details to lauren@maudnewton.com by the Thursday before publication for consideration.