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 event’s date in . . .
While laid up, I can only do so much sleeping and reading and stroking of cats before the pacing starts. Mr. Maud (and YouTube) have come to the rescue with The Mighty Boosh, a hilariously surreal British TV show that began on stage, went to radio, and finally aired as a BBC3 series several years ago. In this episode . . .
J.M. Coetzee rejects Mailer’s view of history “as a war between good and evil” plotted by supernatural beings, but admires his new book as historical fiction.
Filtering news and reading Solzhenitsyn in a New York prison. (Thanks, Christian.)
Junichiro Tanizaki’s The Key rocks my world. Hanif Kureishi, who’s adapted another Tanizaki work for the screen, makes me wonder why I haven’t read more.