Reader, Meet Author
MONDAY:
Gorky Park author Martin Cruz Smith will be at the Penn Quarter Olsson's to read from his latest, Stalin's Ghost. In the book, Moscow subway riders see the ghost of Joseph Stalin on the platform of the Chistye Prudy Metro station. Here in Washington, we settle for George Stephanopoulos. What a country! 7 p.m.
Susan L. Shirk will be at Politics and Prose to discuss her book China: Fragile Superpower. Of course in China the book is simply referred to as China: Superpower and the pages are blank. 7 p.m.
Matthew Rothschild will be at Busboys and Poets to discuss and sign copies of his book You Have No Rights: Stories of America in an Age of Repression. 6:30 p.m.
TUESDAY:
Political journalist Michael Barone will speak about his book Our First Revolution, which is actually a reference to Britain’s Glorious Revolution of 1688, not the American Revolutionary War. Sound familiar? This event was originally scheduled for May 29. Politics and Prose. 7 p.m.
Though it will be a couple of years before we finally get to visit Hogwarts, the Harry Potter Knight Bus will be visiting students at Petworth Neighborhood Library. OK, it's not an author event, but we love geeky stuff like this. Unfortunately, we aren't in 4th grade. But we're pretty sure our parents will sign the permission slip. 9:30 a.m.
WEDNESDAY:
The Middle East Institute and Busboys and Poets are sponsoring an event with author Michael Morgan to discuss his new book Lost History: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Scientists, Thinkers, and Artists, to be published Tuesday by National Geographic and Random House. 12 p.m.
Deborah Siegel will speak at the Dupont Olsson's on the topic of the new feminism, the subject of her book Sisterhood, Interrupted: From Radical Women to Grrls Gone Wild. 7 p.m.
THURSDAY:
Author Viken Berberian will be at the Dupont Olsson's to read from Das Kapital: A Novel of Love and Money Markets. No, you're not imagining things. The book is an homage to Karl Marx's famous work, as well as a love story and a thriller. The biggest difference for us, though, is that we probably can make it through Berberian's book without yawning. Sorry, economists. 7 p.m.
A former staff sergeant of the Florida National Guard, anti-war activist Camilo Mejía went to Iraq, came back on furlough and then decided he wasn't going back. Hear his side of the story at Politics and Prose, when he talks about his book Road from Ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejía. 7 p.m.
FRIDAY:
John Burdett will read from the latest entry in his mystery-thriller series, Bangkok Haunts, at Politics and Prose. This one is all about the vicious death of a detective's former lover, a snuff film and an exclusive men's club. In other words, you probably won't see this one on too many high school summer reading lists. 7 p.m.
SATURDAY:
Mitali Perkins will be at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library to celebrate the release of her new book, First Daughter: Extreme American Makeover. It's the epic tale of Sameera, the adopted daughter of a presidential hopeful, who undergoes an "extreme" makeover to appear more "American." Will her father win the election? Will Sameera stay true to herself in the process? Does anyone have a spare ergonomic keyboard? Typing this stuff is killing my wrists. Young Adult Services Division, Room 443. 3 p.m.
Everything we know about Nixon we learned from the writings of Hunter S. Thompson. But if you want a perspective that isn't influenced by a drug binge, journalist Elizabeth Drew will be at Politics and Prose to discuss her latest book Richard M. Nixon. Off topic: We saw an episode of Cash Cab recently, and the contestants totally didn't know Nixon's middle name was Milhous. Idiots. 6 p.m.