This week in New York Stephen Colbert celebrates Ulysses, Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson are King and Queen of the Mermaid Parade, Heidi Julavits interviews Aimee Bender at Symphony Space, Gordon Lish MCs the NY Tyrant reading, Ann Beattie reads at Book Court, Mary Caponegro headlines the Big Other extravaganza, Light Industry presents short films curated by Jack Stevenson, CLMP colonizes Housing Works for its Giant Lit Mag Fair, and BAMcinemaFEST continues.
MONDAY 6/14: Aimee Bender and Heidi Julavits at Symphony Space. Heidi Julavits interviews Aimee Bender, author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, for the Thalia Book Club. A selection will be read by Lillo Way. 7:30-9:00pm.
Big Other Extravaganza: Mary Caponegro heads up a great night with readings by A.D. Jameson, John Dermot Woods, Shya Scanlon, Edward Mullany, John Madera, Greg Gerke, and Nicolle Elizabeth. With music by John Madera and Robert Lopez, and games, prizes, raffles and more. Pacific Standard Bar. 82 4th Avenue, Brooklyn. 7:00pm-9:00pm.
TUESDAY 6/15:
Wah Do Dem. Directed by Ben Chase and Sam Fleischner. Brooklyn hipster Max’s (Sean Bones) girlfriend (played by Norah Jones) dumps him just days before their Caribbean cruise. Bummed, but determined to make the most of it, Max sets sail alone for Jamaica, where, after having all his stuff stolen and literally missing the boat, he embarks on a crosscountry, philosophical journey that yields surprising revelations. BAM Rose Cinemas.
Movies with Roots in Hell: Jack Stevenson curates a mind-bending, all-16mm compendium of coming attractions, short subjects, clips, and fragments inspired by his comprehensive study Addicted: The Myth and Menace of Drugs in Film (2000). Spanning sixty years, the program kicks off with the Tod Browning-scripted silent detective spoof Mystery of the Leaping Fish (1916)—in which Douglas Fairbanks Sr. plays always-dusted sleuth “Coke Ennyday” on a mission to battle white slavers in opium-addled Chinatown—and includes pre-Code musical numbers “Reefer Man” (1933) by Cab Calloway, “Sweet Marijuana” (1934) by Gertrud Michaels, and an early exploitation trailer for Dwain Esper’s Marijuana: Weed with Roots in Hell (1936).
WEDNESDAY 6/16: NY Tyrant Reading: In association with Park-Lit, the New York Tyrant will be holding the first outdoor reading of ParkLit’s summer reading series. With Master of Ceremonies Gordon Lish, and readers Eugene Marten and Susan Froderberg. Jackson Square Park in the West Village (On 8th Ave. and Horatio). 6:30pm.
Ann Beattie – Walks with Men. Book Court. 7:00pm.
Ulysses Celebration with Stephen Colbert. Symphony Space. 7:00pm.
THURSDAY 6/17: Celebrate Brooklyn presents Eugene Mirman and Pretty Good Friends. Prospect Park Bandshell. 8:00-10:30pm.
FRIDAY 6/18: BAMcinemaFEST presents Ted Kotcheff’s Wake in Fright, a film that Nick Cave calls “The best and most terrifying film about Australia in existence.” BAM presents this lost classic, which first premiered at Cannes in 1971, about a young schoolteacher who tours the Australian Outback over 5 days of unforgiving terrain, gambling and sordid encounters. 9:30pm.
SATURDAY 6/19: Lou Reed is King Neptune and Laurie Anderson is Queen Mermaid at this year’s Mermaid Parade at Coney Island. 2:00pm-5:00pm.
Teenage Paparazzo. Actor and filmmaker Adrian Grenier (Entourage) explores America’s obsession with celebrity via the story of thirteen-yearold paparazzo Austin Visschedyk, a fledgling photog with a going rate of up to $2,000 a pop. 6:00pm.
SUNDAY 6/20: CLMP’s Giant LitMag Fair. The magazines may be little, but the weekend is big, big, BIG! Itʼs time once again for CLMPʼs GIANT Lit Mag Fair. Join us at Housing Works on Sunday, where lit fiends can take home armfuls of lit mags discounted more than 50% at only $2 a copy! Peruse hundreds of magazines, like AGNI, A Public Space, Canteen, Glimmer Train, Ecotone, Electric Literature, Fence, Gigantic, The Literary Review, The Oxford American, MAKE, Slice, Tin House, Zeek, and more, and hobnob with many of the editors whoʼll be there in person to meet and greet. Housing Works Bookstore Cafe.
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News about notable happenings in New York can be sent to rozalia-AT-therumpus.net
Original Notable New York Illustration © André da Loba. Other images in order of appearance: Images from the film Wah Do Dem and Wake in Fright, respectively; image of a past Mermaid Parade at Coney Island.
