Q & A

Weds., June 9

Jeff Sharlet's book and online magazine share the same name: Killing the Buddha. But anyone expecting a series of stories about smoking the last of the weed will be disappointed. Sharlet writes thoughtfully about finding spirituality in unexpected places. Will the face of God be visible in the drunken literati gathered to hear him read at KGB tonight? Doubtful, but not impossible. (7, free)

Thurs., June 10

Usually, when an author doesn't attend their own book party, it's a horrible breach of etiquette. When the author in question is SDS co-founder David Gilbert, the absence can be excused in light of his 75-to-life minimum prison sentence. His friends and colleagues Chesa Boudin, Juan Gonzalez and Naomi Jaffe speak on his behalf at Columbia University's Law School. Half of the event's book sales go to the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement Comissary Fund for NY State political prisoners. (7:30, $6 sugg. don.)

Fri., June 11

After last night's smash-the-state celebration sponsored by the Brecht Forum, you can swing to the right with a bracing tribute to the new American empire, as P.J. O' Rourke, former National Lampoon editor and still the coolest Republican alive, reads from his new book Peace Kills: America's Fun New Imperialism at the Union Square Barnes & Noble (7, free).

Sat., June 12

When we think about poetry, we mostly think of it as a lost or extremely sequestered art form. Tonight, the Bowery Poetry Club challenges that assumption by presenting readings of poems from Present Tense: Poets in the World, a collection of verses that engage reality. Topics include war, corporate greed and prison conditions. Topics excluded: rainbows, pretty sunsets and how much the poet loves somebody. (7, $8)

For a more historical and depressing evening, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly actor Eli Wallach reads from Anne Frank's diary at the CUNY Graduate Center. The event marks what would have been Anne's 75th birthday, and includes musical performances. (3, $25, $10 st.)

Tues., June 13

It's not often that you have a chance to confront someone who has let loose an unspeakable horror on the world. Barnes & Noble offers such a chance tonight as Helen Fielding, author of Bridget Jones's Diary, reads from her latest, Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination (7, free).

Barnes & Noble, 33 E. 17th St. (betw. B'way & Park Ave. S.), 212-969-8262; Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery (betw. Bleecker & Houston Sts.), 212-614-0505; Columbia University Law School, 435 W. 116th St. (Amsterdam Ave.), 212-242-4201; CUNY Graduate Center, 365 5th Ave. (34th St.), 212-817-8215; KGB Bar, 85 E. 4th St. (betw. 2nd & 3rd Aves.), 212-505-3360.