Books
Jayne Anne Phillips
Phillips, recently nominated for a National Book Award, reads from her latest novel, Lark & Termite, which alternates between scenes of war and the story of two siblings living in the South.
Event
Sandhogs book launch
Photographer Gina LeVay shares a slide show and discusses her book about sandhogs—urban miners who dig tunnels beneath the streets of Manhattan.
Art
“Remembering the Fulton Fish Market”
Artist Naima Rauam stages the fourth edition of this exhibit, which features her sketches and paintings of the Fulton Fish Market from its days in South Street Seaport.
Cover image via Amazon.com
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Books
Greil Marcus: Lipstick Traces
Marcus, pictured, wrote his seminal work on punk and the Situationist movement 20 years ago, but it still rocks.
Party
Post-Apocalypse Survival Party
Join party-lovin’ musician Andrew W.K., comedian Matt McCarthy, author Tony O’Neill and more at this discussion, which doubles as a launch party for Pomp and Circumstance magazine.
Event
When Everything Changed
New York Times op-ed columnist Gail Collins discusses her new book about the women’s liberation movement. R.S.V.P. to events@tenement.org.
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Book
Mark Danner
The intense war reporter gives a talk on government-sponsored torture and how it’s documented.
Drink Up
Le Bingo at (Le) Poisson Rouge
Drag King Murray Hill hosts this nominally French-themed night. One wonders what a real French person would think of Tater-Tots and a can of Rolling Rock for $6.
Clubs
Treehouse: Todd Edwards
Dance-music trailblazer Edwards plays a rare New York gig.
Cover image via Amazon.com
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Nature
Meteor shower
Be sure to look up to the sky this evening, or join the Inwood Astronomy Project in Inwood Hill Park for a telescope-assisted view.
Event
An Evening with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. discusses his passion—protecting the environment—at tonight’s event, sponsored by the National Resource Defense Council.
Books
Wayne Koestenbaum
The poet who shot Chelsea for TONY’s photo issue joins Amy King and R. Erica Doyle for a roundtable discussion.
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Books
Jonathan Safran Foer
The Everything Is Illuminated novelist serves up his first nonfiction book, Eating Animals, which considers the ethics of consuming meat and levels a harsh indictment of factory farms.
Music
Home
Relive the late ’90s with the scrappy indie rock and wild-eyed prog of cracked-pop institution Home.
Sport
Akido
Try a free lesson of this Japanese martial art that stresses coordination, not throwing people.
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Comedy
Comedy at KFBK
The smooth and delightfully understated Hannibal Buress brings friends and cohorts out to this new Brooklyn branch of a Manhattan staple.
Clubs
Body Music
DJs Jesse Mann, Reverend Soul and their guests spin the sounds that budge your bulk, ranging from funk and jazz to disco and house, accompanied by live percussion and bass.
Shopping
The Fulton Flea
The new Fulton Flea offers an eclectic mix of handmade goods, vintage products, jewelry, apparel, antiques and more from home-based artisan entrepreneurs.
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Art
“Canstruction”
Check out amazing sculptures built entirely from recyclables.
Spas & Sport
Pilates class for TONY readers
Join other TONY readers who loves their bodies (and free things) as much as you do.
Event
BurdaStyle & STC Craft: DIY Designs
Embrace your inner Martha Stewart at this craftathon.
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Books
Gary Shteyngart
The Absurdistan author heads to KGB Bar to discuss his fiction, a unique mix of inspired satire and brisk storytelling.
Discussion
“The Fighter Pilot and the Monk: Fearless Success in Business and Life”
It’s a study in contrasts: Former Navy pilot John Foley and Buddhist monk Geshe Michael Roach will talk about their strategies for success.
Gay & Lesbian
Reel Dialogue
The Hunter College series presents a trio of LGBT documentaries.
Cover image via Amazon.com
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If you haven’t yet taken the opportunity to check out the endless lineup of horror, dance, vaudeville, comedy and spoken-word performances at Ant Fest 2009, perhaps you were just waiting for the word free to enter the equation. Hold out no longer—to see tonight’s gratis edition of the ongoing variety show “Showgasm,” all you have to do is reserve a seat beforehand at arsnovanc.com.
Ant Fest is all about out-of-the-box live entertainment, so the pick-’n'-mix variety format offers the perfect chance to see the weird and wonderful range of performers who play at Ars Nova (511 W 54th St between Tenth and Eleventh Aves, 212-868-4444). As an added bonus, tonight’s hosting duties will be handled by Upright Citizens Brigade vets Lance Rubin and Ray Munoz.
If you can’t brave the cold, you still have one more chance to see the show for free before the festival closes: next Thursday, November 19, at 10pm. Who knows—maybe you’ll find out you have more of a penchant for the avant-garde than you thought.
Festival
5 Dutch Days
Kick of this Dutch-themed festival with free food and Netherlands-ish trivia at the Dutch Quiz Quest.
Event
“Lower East Side Stories: Apartment Tales”
This regular storytelling series turns to a topic we can all relate to: NYC apartments, and the horror stories contained therein.
Discussion
Obsolete: An Encyclopedia of Once-Common Things Passing Us By
Author Anna Jane Grossman will discuss things that are no longer in common use (e.g., mixtapes and getting lost), then open the floor to audience members who want to argue about them.
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Parade
Veterans Day
Pay tribute to the men and women of the U.S. military at various events throughout the city, including the annual parade along Fifth Avenue.
Gay & Lesbian
“Will Your Loved Ones Be Left Out? A Comprehensive Look at the Financial and Legal Challenges Faced by the LGBT Community”
Come find out how to dot all your is and cross all your ts.
Books
Rivka Galchen + Ben Marcus + David Samuels
Harper’s Magazine invites three writers to share stories about Thanksgiving.
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Books
Chuck Klosterman
The voracious pop-culture critic reads from his latest, Eating the Dinosaur.
Event
“Walls in Berlin, Europe, and Beyond”
On the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, sociologists discuss the use of walls for the purpose of establishing borders.
Lecture
“Crude World: The Politics of Oil”
Peter Maass, author of Crude World: The Violent Twilight of Oil, discusses the ways in which oil consumption affects life around the world.
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MIT professor Leonard Guarente, aging well.
Geek out
Secret Science Club
MIT professor Leonard Guarente discusses the science of aging, and his own research into potential “longevity genes.” Once you’ve faced your own mortality, turn to the “Immortal Skol” cocktail special.
Gay
Industry Night
Enjoy an endless happy hour and free games of pool at Christopher Street’s new bar for rock-&-roll-loving queers, Rockbar.
Classical
New Juilliard Ensemble
As part of the Ancient Paths, Modern Voices—a three-week festival of Chinese artistry—Joel Sachs conducts the world premiere of Li Shaosheng’s Skyline on the Moon and the first western hemisphere performance of Zhu Jian-Er’s Symphony No. 4.
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Image via Secret Science Club
Art
Barb Choit
These slightly altered posters bring back the ’80s. Hard.
Dance
Taylor 2
In honor of the Paul Taylor Dance Company’s move to Grand Street, Taylor 2 performs Esplanade and Company B.
Classical
Music at Our Saviour’s Atonement
The versatile Ensemble ACJW performs Villa-Lobos’s Quinteto em forma de chôros, Franz Hasenohrl’s Till Eulenspiegel—Einmal Anders! and Stravinsky’s A Soldier’s Tale.
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Drinking events
Cask Ale Festival
The second day of the “living brews” fest, which includes tipples like “Fuggelicious Wet Hopped Harvest Ale” and “Norm’s Raggedy Ass Ale.”
Clubs
One Step Ahead: Dante Ross
A funk-fueled evening of dusty-groove antics with Dante Ross, a major player in NYC’s hip-hop scene since the mid-’80s
Fitness
Workout with a Crunch trainer
Personal trainers Taj Harris and Karina Arrue conduct a one-mile group run/walk and a free 30-minute abs-and-stretch class at a nearby Crunch gym. You’ll also receive a complimentary three-day pass to a Crunch gym.
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Sex
2010 NYC Sex Blogger Calendar Release Party
Meet your favorite wordsmiths turned pin-ups and snag goody bags filled with condoms, penis-shaped lollipops and vibrators.
Books
Lynne Tillman + Hannah Tinti
Two top-shelf and entertaining New York writers read their fiction.
Art
Shana Lutker
This live event, part of Performa 09, incorporates accordion and invites audience participation by soliciting script suggestions for the actors.
Dance
Will Rawls
As part of a 100-hour creative residency at DTW, Will Rawls presents a work-in-progress showing of The Planet-Eaters.
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WTF
Guy Fawkes Night
Hit up Telephone Bar or the Bell House to fete that guy who tried to blow up parliament in 1605.
Drink Up
Dogfish Head Novemberfest
The top dogs of craft brewing bring some autumnal brews to Standings bar. Line your tum with free Ray’s pizza before quaffing $5 beers until 8pm ($6 thereafter).
Books
Rachel Sherman
Her artful novel Living Room offers an acidic and sometimes hilarious view of suburbia.
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Eat Out
William Grimes at Tenement Talks
The former New York Times dining critic offers a primer on the evolution of New York restaurants.
Lecture
“Darwin on Facebook: How Culture Transforms Human Evolution”
Anthropologist Peter Richerson breaks down his theory that it’s social interaction—online or off—that drives human evolution. Survival of the twittest?
Gay & Lesbian
Wednesgayz
DJ Tikka hosts this new weekly dance party with a rotating lineup of hand-selected guest DJs and down-to-earth Bed-Stuy queers.
Book cover via Amazon.
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Art
Guy Ben-Ner’s Untitled
The Israeli artist’s Performa 09 film features him talking to himself on the phone as he travels between Berlin and Tel Aviv.
Books
Bomb magazine launch party
Fiction writer Christopher Sorrentino reads his story “Ventriloquy,” which subtly enters the mind of a bitter novelist.
Music
Bushwick Book Club: On the Origin of Species
In this edition, singer-songwriters take Sir Charles Darwin as their muse.
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Books
Gary Giddins
The author discusses his new critical cornerstone: Jazz.
Talk
“The ‘Transcriptease’ Solar-Powered Oyster Reef”
Artist Mara Haseltine built New York’s first solar-powered oyster reef in 2007. Tonight she’ll chat about her project and the need for native oysters in New York City.
Books
Gravity’s Rainbow
Novelists Robert Stone (Dog Soldiers) and Emily Barton (Brookland) join editor Gerald Howard to discuss Thomas Pynchon’s metafiction classic.
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