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 11 FEB: Make a donation to Books Through Bars. “Memoirs and fiction by people of color, and poetry anthologies” are especially appreciated.
TUE 12 FEB: Janice Erlbaum officially launches Have You Found Her at Penny Arcade’s Open Mic Night (Karma Lounge, 51 First Ave btw. 3rd/4th). 9PM, FREE [Full disclosure, as always: I am Janice’s publicist]. And, Richard Wesley, Diana Son, Peter Godwin, Gabriel Cohen and Jami Floyd discuss “Writing and Race” at NYU. 6:30PM, FREE. Additionally, the “Some of the Girls” Women’s Book Club discusses This Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Doctor over dinner in NoHo.
WED 13 FEB: Because I am too tired to attempt to rewrite this and expect it come out nearly as coherently: “Camphor, this week’s NPR darlings (buzzworthy debut, Drawn to Dust, out this spring from my personal fave, Friendly Fire Recordings), will be joining us next week for “Upstairs at the Square,” along with 2007 Man Booker Prize-winning author Anne Enright (Per the NYTRB: “Reckless intelligence, savage humor, slow revelation, no consolation: Anne Enright’s fiction is jet dark  but how it glitters…”) Hope you will too. P.S. It’s “Anne Enright Week” at Fernham!” [via my personal blog, Lux Lotus; full disclosure, as always: “Upstairs at the Square” is one of my PR projects]. Also, there’s Amanda Stern’s Happy Ending Series, the one that set the standard (and still does). Plus, good-looking magazine New York Tyrant has a bash while the ‘rents are in Europe (the James Spader cover says you seem awfully sophisticated for a freshman).
THU 14 FEB: “On the way to the club we pass a Dairy Queen/
You stop cause it you know it means so much to me…” Leslie and the LYs do Mercury Lounge.
FRI 15 FEB: Currently on the stage around town: “The New York Premiere of Kurt Vonnegut’s SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE or, The Children’s Crusade, a play based on the classic American anti-war novel;” “Do you think, because I am poor obscure and plain, I am soulless and heartless?” Hey Valentine, it’s Jane Eyre.
SAT 16 FEB: Dexter Sinister, “Just-In-Time Workshop & Occasional Bookstore,” included in the upcoming Whitney Biennial, is open Saturdays from 12 to 6PM.
SUN 17 FEB: I spent the day at the Cloisters this Sunday, transfixed by the Books of Hours in the Treasury and a small hat or gown pin of mysterious origin in a nearby gallery, engraved on the back, “Autre ne veut” (I want no other). And the Unicorn Tapestries, with their astonishing detail and dense, symbolic narrative, are surprisingly captivating, too. Highly recommended.
UPCOMING: “What is your favorite part of literary festivals and why? I love the groupies of course, though please don’t print that if you think my wife is going to read this. Eh, fuck it, go ahead, it’s easier than talking to her. I also like the swag, new MP3 players and cool sunglasses are always nice, and appreciated, and though I had intended not to do any plugging here, thank you Ray Ban.” 101 days to Pilcrow Lit Fest!