John Heilemann and Mark Halperin
Barnes & Noble; 11/12 at 7 p.m.; 97 Warren St., at Greenwich St.; 212-587-5389
New York’s political columnist joins co-author and Time political analyst Mark Halperin to dish about Game Change, their juicy book about the 2008 presidential election. Check out a particularly pulpy excerpt here.
Kristin Hersh
92 Y Tribeca; 11/12 at 8 p.m.; 200 Hudson St., nr. Canal St.; 212-601-1000
The lead singer and guitarist for the bands Throwing Muses and 50 Foot Wave is also an accomplished writer. In her latest, the memoir Rat Girl, she tells of the chaos that was her 18th year: bipolar, pregnant, sometimes homeless, yet steadily becoming famous. She’ll intersperse readings with musical performances.
Dick Cavett
92nd Street Y; 11/15 at 8:15 p.m.; 1395 Lexington Ave.; 212-415-5500
The legendary host (and recent “21 Questions” subject) has interviewed famous folks for years on his late-night TV gig. This time around he’s the one in the hot seat, where he’ll discuss his life on- and off-screen, as well as his new book, Talk Show: Confrontations, Pointed Commentary, and Off-Screen Secrets.
Michael Codella and Bruce Bennett
Barnes & Noble; 11/16 at 7 p.m.; 97 Warren St., at Greenwich St.; 212-587-5389
In pre-Giuliani Alphabet City (where Avenue A was synonymous with “assault” and D with “death”), NYPD narcotics cop Michael Codella roamed the streets locking up drug dealers with a $50,000 bounty on his head. His novel Alphaville: 1998, Crime, Punishment, and the Battle for New York City’s Lower East Side, co-written with author Bruce Bennett, recounts the gritty, true-crime story of tracking murderer and heroin kingpin Davie Blue Eyes.
Nonfiction at the KGB
KGB Bar; 11/16 at 7 p.m.; 85 E. 4th St., nr. Second Ave., 2nd. fl.; 212-505-3360
It’s sure to be a humorous night when Roy Blount Jr. (HAIL, HAIL, EUPHORIA!: Presenting the Marx Brothers in Duck Soup, the Greatest War Movie Ever Made) and The New Yorker’s Ian Frazier (Travels in Siberia) headline the latest installment of the recurring nonfiction reading series.
Jay-Z
Brooklyn Museum; 11/18 at 7 p.m.; 200 Eastern Pkwy., at Washington Ave.; Prospect Heights; 718-501-6409
The marketing blitz for Jigga’s book Decoded has its pages turning up in the most unexpected places. You can finally get your hands on it next week, and even see the man himself: either on Monday at the New York Public Library being interviewed by Cornel West (it’s sold out but will be live-streamed here), or Thursday with Charlie Rose at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, which will later air on Rose’s show. Get your tix, like, yesterday.