MONDAY: It’s hard to think of a more appropriate person to have written On the Wealth of Nations, part of the new Grove Atlantic Great Books series where contemporary writers flesh out the work of humanity’s most important thinkers, than P.J. O’Rourke. Harder still to imagine a time when everyone agreed that P.J. O’Rourke had a sense of humor. At Politics and Prose at 7 p.m., also Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Cato Institute,…

MONDAY: >> We’ve been hearing an awful lot about certain journalists who’ve spent superfluous time in jail for ideals they supposedly believe in — but, before you make any contributions to that gravy train, why not hear from Marie-Helene Carleton, who’ll be in town discussing the travails of her filmmaker partner Micah Garen, who was taken hostage in Iraq in 2003. Even if you’re an avid news junkie, there’s still a lot you don’t know…

Literary heavyweights and an anniversary celebration for one of Washington’s most respected institutions are the highlights this week in your area bookstores. TUESDAY >>Rick Moody, author of The Ice Storm, has recently published his first proper novel in eight years. It’s called The Diviners, a expansive character study set against the backdrop of the end of the Clinton era that’s being described as his most ambitious work. Moody drops by Politics and Prose for a…