Salman Rushdie
New York Public Library; 9/20 at 7 p.m.; Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Fifth Ave. at 42nd St., Williamsburg
Rushdie talks with Paul Holdengräber about Joseph Anton, his memoir about spending nine years living under a fatwa.Literary mash-up:The name of the book refers to Rushdie’s alias, which he chose by combining the first names of two of his favorite authors, Joseph Conrad and Anton Chekhov.
Jeffrey Eugenides
powerHouse Books; 9/21 at 7 p.m.; 37 Main St., nr. Water St., Dumbo; 212-604-9074
The writer celebrates the paperback launch of his 2011 best seller The Marriage Plot.
Penny Marshall
Strand Bookstore; 9/21 at 7 p.m.; 828 Broadway, at 12th St.; 212-473-1452
The actress, producer, and director of Big and A League of Their Own reads from her memoir, My Mother Was Nuts.
Richard Zacks
Cooper Union , Rose Hall; 9/21 at 6:30 p.m.; 7 E. 7th St., at Third Ave.; 212-353-4100
The author of Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt’s Doomed Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York will discuss debauchery in 1890s New York, including the brothels once located right in Cooper Union. History comes alive!
The Emma Straub Hollywood Variety Hour
Public Assembly; 9/22 at 8 p.m.; 70 N. 6th St., nr. WytheAve., Williamsburg; 718-384-4586
A variety night of singing, dancing (in seats), and a former Brat Packer when author Straub hosts musician Stephin Merritt, actor and travel author Andrew McCarthy, blogger Maris Kreizman, and the inimitable Ira Glass. Note: The price of admission includes a copy of Straub’s novel, Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures.
Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum
BookCourt; 9/25 at 7 p.m.; 163 Court St., nr. Pacific St., Boerum Hill; 718-875-3677
The authors of I Want My MTV, a testament to the myriad ways the channel has influenced popular culture, read from their book and answer questions from the audience.
Theodore Ross
Pacific Standard; 9/26 at 7 p.m.; 82 Fourth Ave., nr. St. Marks Pl., Park Slope; 718-858-1951
For its September reading, the father-focused website DadWagon presents Theodore Ross, who reads from his new book Am I a Jew?: Lost Tribes, Lapsed Jews, and One Man’s Search for Himself, about the author’s childhood as a closeted Jew in southern Mississippi in the eighties.