"Authorial Intent" wraps up book events for the week in the Boston area.

Wednesday, October 24

Chris Matthews, 6:00 pm, Coolidge Corner (via Brookline Booksmith), $5
Recently, Jon Stewart sank his fangs into Matthews for pimping the concept that "Life's a Campaign," which is, admittedly, a little scary. Bostonist prefers the old saw that life is a bowl of cherries. Watch what Matthews has dubbed the "interview from hell," and you'll already be armed with a few questions when he visits tonight:

Bill Bryson, 7:00 pm, First Parish Church Meetinghouse, Corner of Church St. and Mass Ave. (via Harvard Book Store), $16. More info.
Travel writer Bryson will read from his memoir The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. The $16 price might seem high, but, according to Harvard Book Store, tickets are redeemable for a paperback copy of the book.

Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus, 6:00 pm, Harvard Museum of Natural History
The so-called "Bad Boys of Environmentalism" will discuss their book Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility, in which they rebel against the Al Gore crowd. They don't say that global warming isn't happening, but they think that invention is the way to fix the problem, not government.

Thursday, October 25

Gail Mazur, 6:30 pm, Institute of Contemporary Art
Mazur, who is writer-in-residence at Emerson, will read from Zeppo's First Wife: New & Selected Poems in honor of the installation of her poem "Little Tempest" on the HarborWalk.

Tuesday, October 30

Salman Rushdie, 6:00 pm, Rabb Lecture Hall, Boston Public Library
Literary icon Salman Rushdie will talk about "Public Events, Private Lives." What other man can say that he's been threatened with death by Islamic fundamentalists and romanced and dumped by a hot reality-TV host?

Wendy Williams, 7:00 pm, Porter Square Books
Williams, who made a memorable appearance on the Daily Show, will be reading from one of Bostonist's favorite books, Cape Wind: Money, Celebrity, Class, Politics, and the Battle for America's Energy Future on Nantucket Sound.

Frank Warren, 6:00 pm, Brattle Theatre (via Harvard Book Store), $5. More info.
The man behind PostSecret has another book gathering the secrets behind left on the popular website. Some of the secrets are innocuous, such as "I hang the clothes I like best with my favorite hangers … but I feel bad for the shirts that I give the bad hangers to …" Others will make you cry and squirm.

Video from Comedy Central. (They offered it as an embed. Viacom, please don't chase us!)