this week in literature

BOOKCON 2

Kevin Hart is one of the featured stars of BookCon2

Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
655 West 34th St. (11th Ave. between 34th & 39th Sts.)
Saturday, June 3, and Sunday, June 4, $10 (children ages six to twelve) – $45 (adults)
www.thebookcon.com

The annual trade show BookExpoAmerica at the Javits Center will once again be followed by BookCon, a two-day fair that is open to the public this weekend, celebrating all things literary, from picture books and comics to YA and adult fiction and nonfiction. There will be panel discussions, meet-and-greets, autograph sessions, Q&As, screenings, and much more. The lineup of guests is impressive, including Bill Nye, Charlamagne tha God, Chelsea Clinton, Cory Doctorow, Heather Graham, Jeff Kinney, Jeffrey Tambor, Kevin Hart, Leomony Snicket, Margaret Atwood, Marc Maron, Mayim Bialik, Veronica Roth, and many others. (Scott Kelly and Dan Brown had to cancel.) Below are only some of the myriad special events, some of which require advance registration and ticketing.

Saturday, June 3
Chad Michael Murray — an American Drifter, with Chad Michael Murray and Heather Graham, Room 1E10, 11:15

Carrying On with Rainbow Rowell, with Rainbow Rowell and Emma Straub, Room 1E14, 12:15

Ten-Year Anniversary of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, with Jeff Kinney and Kevin Maher, Main Stage, 12:45

WTF?: Marc Maron and Brendan McDonald, Room 1E14, 1:30

Do You Ship This?, with Danielle Paige, Victoria Aveyard, and Veronica Roth, moderated by Claire Fallon, Main Stage, 2:30

Girling Up: Mayim Bialik Spotlight, with Mayim Bialik, Room 1E16, 5:15

Veronica Roth will return for more BookCon fun this year

Sunday, June 4
A Picture Tells 1,000 Words: Graphic Novels, with Svetlana Chmakova, Samwise Didier, Matt Phelan, Thi Bui, and Scott Westerfeld, moderated by Abe Riesman, Room 1E16, 11:00 am

Write Here, Write Now, with E. Lockhart, Adam Silvera, Leigh Bardugo, and Jennifer E. Smith, moderated by Andrew Harwell, Room 1E10, 12:30

Kids Book Blockbusters, with Jeff Kinney, Mary Pope Osborne, Kwame Alexander, and Lemony Snicket, moderated by Roger Sutton, Main Stage, 12:45

Life Lessons from the Stage: Tim Federle in Conversation with Ruby Karp, Downtown Stage, 1:00

Sixteen-Year-Old Me, with Lauren Oliver, Kendare Blake, Soman Chainani, and Jeff Giles, moderated by Alessandra Balzer, Room 1E10, 1:45

Kevin Hart Live Q&A, with Kevin Hart and Charlamagne tha God, Main Stage, 4:00

PRIDE MONTH: QUEER CONTINUUMS

Taja Lindley will give a free preview of Bag Lady Manifesta at the Brooklyn Museum on June 3

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, June 3, free, 5:00 – 11:00
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

The Brooklyn Museum honors LGBTQ Pride Month for the June edition of its free First Saturday program, which continues its 2017 theme, “A Year of Yes: Reimagining Feminism.” There will be live music from the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus, SassyBlack, and Tamar-kali; a curator tour of “We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965–85” led by Rujeko Hockley; teen apprentice pop-up gallery talks on works by LGBTQ artists; the New York City Legacy Ball, featuring Icons, Legends, Statements, and Stars of the ballroom community, hosted by father Sydney UltraOmni; a Community Resource Fair with the Gender Empowerment Movement Program, Health and Education Alternatives for Teens, Brooklyn Zen Center, Diaspora Community Services, Percent for Green, Well Read Black Girl, Brooklyn Pride, and the Audre Lorde Project; Pop-Up Poetry with Saretta Morgan and Alysia Harris paying tribute to artists in “We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965–85”; a preview performance by Taja Lindley from The Bag Lady Manifesta, which comes to Dixon Place in the fall; a crown-making workshop; the Brooklyn premiere of Mike Mosallam’s Breaking Fast, part of “DisOrient: Queer Arab Film and Discussion,” hosted by Tarab NYC; and the kickoff of the museum’s Black Queer Brooklyn on Film series, with D’hana Perry performing selections from her immersive, multimedia documentary Loose and new works by Frances Bodomo, Dyani Douze, Ja’Tovia Gary, and Chanelle Aponte Pearson of the New Negress Film Society, joined by artists Lindsay Catherine Harris and Isabella Reyes and actor Ash Tai, followed by a Q&A. In addition, you can check out such exhibits as “Iggy Pop Life Class by Jeremy Deller,” “Infinite Blue,” “A Woman’s Afterlife: Gender Transformation in Ancient Egypt,” “We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965–85,” and, at a discounted admission price of $12, “Georgia O’Keefe: Living Modern.”

STAY THE NIGHT

THE PAUL FEIG Z’’L TIKKUN 2017
JCC in Manhattan
334 Amsterdam Ave. at West 76th St.
Tuesday, May 30, free, 10:00 pm – 5:00 am
646-505-5708
www.jccmanhattan.org

The Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which means “weeks” or “oaths,” celebrates the harvest and the reacceptance of the gift of the Torah. It is accompanied by all-night study, so the JCC in Manhattan is opening its doors for free from ten o’clock in the evening on May 30 through five o’clock the next morning, hosting seven hours of dozens of special events throughout the building, from the lobby to the roof. “There is no one right way to be Jewish. There is no one right way to celebrate Shavuot,” Rabbi Abigail Treu, the director of the Center for Jewish Living at the JCC, said in a statement. “If it’s a holiday you do and do well, come join us. If it’s a holiday you’ve never heard of, come join us. If it’s a Tuesday night and you’re up for an adventure, come join us.” Below are only some of the workshops, discussions, live performances, culinary tastings, and, yes, study being held in this overnight bonanza; there will also be plenty of cheesecake, coffee, and tea.

Mikvah on the Roof: Transformation Through Water, with Rabbi Sara Luria & ImmerseNYC faculty, 10:00 pm – 2:45 am

Inequality: What Can Be Done? The Biblical Economies of Sufficiency, with Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller, Makom, seventh floor, 10:00 pm

Free Minds: Prison Poetry Workshop, with Repair the World Fellows, mezzanine, 10:00 pm

L’chayim! Israeli Wine Tasting, with Micah Halpern, classroom 2, lobby, 10:00 & 11:15 pm

The Decline and Fall of the Cultural Jew, with John Podhoretz, seventh floor reception room, 11:15 pm

Toward a Liberating Jewish Sexual Ethic: Between Openness and Limits, with Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller & Doreen Seidler-Feller, Painting + Drawing room, lobby, 11:15 pm

Immigrants and Refugees from Genesis to 2017, with Congressman Jerry Nadler & Ruth Messinger, North Gym, third floor, 11:15 pm

Revelation Through Meditation, with Sheldon Lewis, Soft Studio, fifth floor, 11:15 pm

On the Development of Moral Courage, with Ruth Messinger, Beit Midrash, seventh floor, 12:30 am

Jewish Millennials Talk Broadway, with Sas Goldberg, Philip Ettinger, and Joshua Harmon, moderated by Ruthie Fierberg, North Gym, third floor, 12:30 am

If We All Stood at Sinai, Where Do We Stand Now? A Conversation About What This Holiday Asks of Us, with Abigail Pogrebin, Rabbi Andy Bachman, Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, and Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller, South Gym, third floor, 12:30 am

L’chayim! A Taste of Schnapps (Scotch Tasting), with Micah Halpern, classroom 2, lobby, 12:30 am

Would the Rabbis Have Tweeted? Midrashic Teachings for the Social Media Age, with Rachel Rosenthal, Library, seventh floor, 12:30 am

My Body. My Choice? with Adena Berkowitz, Painting + Drawing room, lobby, 12:30 am

Laughter Yoga, with Francine Shore, Dance Studio, fourth floor, 12:30 am

Dance Midrash: Una Velada en Danza i Canto, Guarding Shavuot in Dance and Song, with Rabbi Mira Rivera & Jerome Korman, second floor communal space, 1:45 am

New Israeli TV, lobby auditorium, 1:45 & 3:00 am

Israeli Dance with Tamar Yablonski, North Gym, third floor, 1:45 & 3:00 am

Less Is More: An Intriguing Talmudic Story, with Joe Septimus, Conference Room, seventh floor, 3:00 am

Stand It Up on Its Feet: The Prophetic Voice for Social Activists, with Rabbi Mira Rivera, Reception Room, seventh floor, 3:00 am

Bringing It Home Closing Circle, lobby, 4:15 am

BRYANT PARK READING ROOM: DOUGLAS BRUNT WITH JAY McINERNEY

trophy son

Who: Douglas Brunt, Jay McInerney
What: Reading and discussion about Trophy Son (St. Martin’s, May 30, $25.99)
Where: Bryant Park, Fortieth to Forty-Second Sts. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
When: Wednesday, May 31, free, 12:30
Why: “In the end, man shapes the world, but the world gets the first crack at us. We’re not much more than a puddle before we’re two years old, and then more years to develop so we can survive on our own. Until then we take in more impressions than we give.” So begins Philadelphia native Douglas Brunt’s third novel, Trophy Son, about a tennis prodigy. Brunt (Ghosts of Manhattan, The Means) is on a high-powered book tour that will bring him to the Bryant Park Reading Room on May 31 at 12:30 for a reading and discussion with Jay McInerney, author of Bright Lights, Big City; The Good Life; and Bright, Precious Days, among others. Brunt will also be at the Barnes & Noble at Eighty-Second & Broadway with Harlan Coben on May 30 at 7:00, at Powerhouse in Brooklyn with Amor Towles on June 2 at 7:00, and at Book Revue in Huntington on June 3 at 7:00 with Nelson DeMille (followed by events in DC and Philly with his wife, Megyn Kelly). The free summer reading series in Bryant Park continues on Wednesday afternoons with Robin Kall on June 7, Susan Rieger on June 14, Don Winslow on June 21, and Anthony M. DeStefano on June 28.

FLEET WEEK 2017

fleet week

Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum and other locations in all five boroughs
Pier 86, 12th Ave. & 46th St.
May 24–29, pier activities free unless otherwise noted
www.intrepidmuseum.org/fleetweek
militarynews.com/app/fleetweeknewyork

The U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard will be pouring into New York City for Fleet Week, which takes place May 24-29 at the Intrepid and other locations. The annual celebration, which began in 1982, leads into Memorial Day weekend, reminding everyone that the holiday is not just about barbecues and beaches. Below are only some of the highlights; all pier events are free and open to the public. Admission to the museum is $17-$33 but free for all U.S. military and veterans.

Wednesday, May 24
Parade of Ships, New York Harbor, 8:15 am – 1:00 pm

Fort Wadsworth Fleet Week and National Park Centennial Celebration, Fort Wadsworth Overlook, Staten Island, 9:00 – 11:30 am

U.S. Navy Divers, New York Aquarium, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm

Thursday, May 25
U.S. Coast Guard Silent Drill Team Performance, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 11:00 am

U.S. Coast Guard Silent Drill Team Performance, 9/11 Memorial Plaza, 1:00

Thursday, May 25
and
Friday, May 26
Public Tours of Visiting Ship Research Vessel Neil Armstrong, end of pier 86, 10:00 am – 12:30 pm

Thursday, May 25
Friday, May 26
and
Saturday, May 27
U.S. Navy Dive Tank in Times Square, plaza between 43rd & 44th Sts., 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Thursday, May 25
through
Monday, May 29
General Public Ship Tours, Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, Homeport Pier in Staten Island, Pier 92 in Manhattan, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm

Friday, May 26
Movie on the Flight Deck: Top Gun (Tony Scott, 1986), introduced by former NASA astronaut and T-38 pilot Gregory C. Johnson, 7:00

Navy Band Concert, with Navy Band Northeast Rhode Island Sound, Military Island, Times Square, 8:00

Friday, May 26
through
Monday, May 29
Giant Leaps Planetarium Show, Intrepid, Hangar 3, Rotunda, 12:15 – 3:15

Saturday, May 27
Marine Day, with a formation run, military static displays, demonstrations, and a performance by the USMC Battle Color Detachment, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm

Broadway Showcase: Cats, Kinky Boots, School of Rock, Ernest Shackleton Loves Me, The Imbible: A Spirited History of Drinking, and Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, emceed by The Play That Goes Wrong, Pier 86, Main Stage, 12 noon

U.S. Coast Guard Search & Rescue Demo, Homeport Pier, Staten Island, 12 noon

CAMMO Voices of Service, Pier 86, Main Stage, 1:30 & 4:30

American Military Spouses Choir, Pier 86, Main Stage, 3:30 & 5:00

Navy Band Concert, with Navy Band Northeast Rhode Island Sound, Military Island, Times Square, 6:00

Battle of the Big Bands, with Harlem Renaissance Orchestra, Glenn Crytzer Orchestra with guest vocalist Hannah Gill, Gunhild Carling with the Swingadelic Big Band, Jason Prover and the Sneak Thievery Orchestra, swing dancing lessons, the Bathtub Ginnys, the Intrepid Swing Dance Brigade, contests, MC Dandy Wellington, DJ VaVa Voom and Odysseus Bailer, Flight Deck, $55-$95, 7:00 pm – 1:00 am

U.S. Marine Corps Battle Color Detachment Performance, Father Duffy Square, Times Square, 8:00

Fleet Week will feature celebrations, commemorations, and memorials May 24-30 in all five boroughs (photo courtesy Fleet Week New York)

Saturday, May 27
and
Sunday, May 28
Activities, displays, demonstrations, tours, and more, including “Dive into Density,” U.S. Coast Guard Silent Drill Team, SeaPerch Pool Demonstrations, antique military vehicles, “Signal Flags,” CEC/Seabee Historical Foundation’s STEM activity, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers North Atlantic Division, “Catch a Cable,” 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

Saturday, May 27
Sunday, May 28
and
Monday, May 29
Explosive Ordnance Disposal Navy Divers, New York Aquarium, Coney Island, $11.95 – $14.95

Meet the Author: Julia Maki, My Mom Hunts Submarines, Hangar 2, Stage, 11:00 am, 12 noon, 1:00

Sunday, May 28
Performance by Tap Life, Pier 86, Main Stage, 12:30

Performance by America’s Sweethearts, Pier 86, Main Stage, 1:00 & 3:00

Performance by Deployed: A New Musical, Pier 86, Main Stage, 1:30 & 4:30

Performance by the 78th Army Band, Pier 86, Main Stage, 2:00

Performance by Exit 12 Dance Company, Pier 86, Main Stage, 3:30

Navy Band Concert, with Navy Band Northeast Rhode Island Sound, Military Island, Times Square, 4:00

Theater of War, with Zach Grenier, Kathryn Erbe, and Reg E. Cathey, Allison & Howard Lutnick Theater, free with RSVP, 7:00

Monday, May 29
Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Day Observance, commemorating the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Battle of Midway, Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, Riverside Dr. & 89th St., 10:00 am

Activities, displays, demonstrations, tours, and more, including Minus 5 Ice Sculpting Experience, CEC/Seabee Historical Foundation’s STEM activity, FDNY Fire Safety Experience, Dina Parise Racing 3,000HP Fallen Heroes Cadillac and Porta Tree display, Veterans Vision Project and Arizona State University, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, Veteran Artist Program, Hudson Valley Paws for a Cause, Intrepid former crew members, “Dive into Density,” SeaPerch Pool Demonstrations, “Signal Flags,” “Catch a Cable,” “What Floats Your Boat?,” Pier 86, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

Memorial Day Ceremony, Pier 86, 11:00 am

Search & Rescue Demonstration by the U.S. Coast Guard, end of Pier 86, 2:00

Bubble Garden by the Gazillion Bubble Show, Pier 86, 2:00 – 6:00

AMY GOODMAN’S DEMOCRACY NOW! COVERING THE MOVEMENTS CHANGING AMERICA

Amy Goodman will be at McNally Jackson on May 9 to discuss Democracy Now! and more

Who: Amy Goodman, David Goodman
What: Author talk and signing
Where: McNally Jackson Books, 52 Prince St., 212-274-1160
When: Tuesday, May 9, free, 9:00
Why: For more than two decades, Democracy Now! cohost and executive producer Amy Goodman has been fighting the good fight, providing award-winning independent journalism that refuses to take the easy way out. Goodman is currently on a national speaking tour that brings her back to her New York City base in conjunction with the release of the paperback edition of Democracy Now! Twenty Years Covering the Movements Changing America (Simon & Schuster, April 2017, $16). In the introduction, Goodman describes how it all started: “Giving voice to the grassroots. When the 1996 election wrapped up, with President Clinton easily reelected, we thought that Democracy Now! would wrap up as well. But there was more demand for the show after the elections than before. Why? There is a hunger for authentic voices — not the same handful of pundits on the network shows who know so little about so much, explaining the world to us and getting it so wrong.” The book features such chapters as “The War and Peace Report,” “The Whistleblowers,” “The Rise of the 99 Percent,” “Climate Justice,” and “The LGBTQ Revolution,” which should give people an idea of what will be discussed when Goodman appears at McNally Jackson on May 9 at 9:00, introduced by her brother and one of her cowriters, David Goodman. (The other cowriter is Denis Moynihan.) On May 12, Goodman will be at 1199 SEIU to receive the 2017 Communicator of the Year Award from the Metro NY Labor Communications Council, introduced by her Democracy Now! cohost, Juan González; the event is open to the public (12 noon, $10-$35).

MAY DAY 2: PUNK ROCK ALL STARS

punk avenue punk rock all stars

Who: Phil Marcade, the Rousers + Friends (Steve Shevlin, Barry Ryan, Danny Ray, JF Vergel), the Waldos, Lenny Kaye, Andy Shernoff, Lynne Von, Daddy Long Legs, Legs McNeil
What: New York City book launch of Punk Avenue: Inside the New York City Underground 1972-1982 by Phil Marcade (Three Rooms Press, May 2, $15.95)
Where: Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker St., 212-505-3474
When: Tuesday, May 2, $20-$25, 7:00
Why: “Why were the seventies so important and interesting? Probably because nobody cared,” Debbie Harry writes in the preface to Phil Marcade’s Punk Avenue. In the foreword, legendary punk chronicler Legs McNeil explains, “If I ever was going to direct a movie of Please Kill Me, the book Gillian McCain and I did, I would put Philippe Marcade in the background of every scene, giggling with some exotic French beauty — just like in real life.” On May 2, Marcade, who was the lead singer of the Senders going back to 1976, will emerge from the background and be front and center at Le Poisson Rouge for a party celebrating the release of his book, which details the early punk scene in New York City, from his stint in jail to his fling with Nan Goldin, from the 1977 blackout to hanging with just about everyone who was part of the punk scene, at such places as Max’s Kansas City, the Chelsea Hotel, and CBGB’s. Marcade will perform with the Rousers + Friends, including Steve Shevlin, Barry Ryan, Danny Ray, and JF Vergel, along with the Waldos (feat. Walter Lure from the Heartbreakers), Lenny Kaye, Andy Shernoff of the Dictators, Lynne Von, Daddy Long Legs, and other special guests. In addition, Marcade will sit down with McNeil for a conversation and sign copies of the book.