Music --The Willows bring to the Middle East Upstairs a brand of Americana country rock inspired by the seasonal carnival scene up in Salem. Alas, no salt water taffy is included in the price of admission. With The Vic Morrows, The Resonance, The Giant Melons. Middle East Upstairs, 472 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, doors 9:00, 18+, $8. --While the show has been sold out for weeks, if there's any way you can get in we......

No indication as of yet that these events have been cancelled. Given the weather, double-check with the venue. Books Former secretary of state Madeline Albright has a few things to say in Memo to the President-Elect: How We Can Restore America's Reputation and Leadership. Now if only the pundits would shut the hell up and listen. First Parish Church Meetinghouse (via Harvard Book Store), 8:00 pm, $5. (Event is sold out, but, as always, the......

Authorial Intent is Bostonist's wrap-up of local readings. All events are free unless otherwise noted. Wednesday, November 28 Helen Vendler, Our Secret Discipline: Yeats and the Lyric Form, Sacker Museum (via Harvard Book Store), 6:00 pm. More info. Vendler, the closest reader of all close readers, so says the New York Times, shines her spotlight on William Butler Yeats. Thursday, November 29 David Hosp, Innocence, 7:30 pm, Charlestown Branch Library Hosp will be reading from......

"Authorial Intent" is Bostonist's roundup of reading events in the area. All events are free unless otherwise noted. Thursday, November 1 Alice Medrich, 7:00 pm, Brookline Booksmith Not in the mood for candy corn but still craving something sweet? Alice Medrich, aka the "Queen of Chocolate," will inspire your palate in a discussion of her book Pure Dessert: True Flavors, Inspiring Ingredients, and Simple Recipes. Friday, November 2 Paula Kamen, 3:00 pm, Harvard Book Store.......

"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......

The American Idea First Parish Church Meetinghouse, 3 Church Street, Harvard Square (Corner of Mass. Ave. and Church St.) Friday, October 19th, 7:00 pm, $5 More info There are a lot of things you could do to celebrate your 150th anniversary. For a magazine, publishing a book seems like a good idea: anthologize the best of your magazine writing in a more permanent format so it can be remembered for all time. And that's just......

Authorial Intent is Bostonist's wrap-up of readings around the city. Thursday, October 18 Joan Blades, 6:30 pm, Rabb Auditorium, Boston Public Library, Ford Hall Forum Series. Blades is the cofounder of moveon.org, and she's got a lot on her mind besides "General Betray-Us," which Congress gnawed on like they had nothing better to do. She'll be talking about momsrising.org, her organization that pushes for more rights for moms and families. Saturday, October 20 Frank, Mark,......

We're a day late on Authorial Intent, our wrap-up of the week's readings. That's largely because we were talking to two of the authors who will be in town tomorrow night, which seems to be the night that the stars aligned and all writers thought it would be a good idea to visit Boston. So, without further adieu … Thursday, October 11--Today, Super Thursday! Robert Reich, 6:00 pm, Swedenborg Chapel (via Harvard Book Store), 50......

Barbara Kingsolver, Stephen L. Hopp (her husband), and Camille Kingsolver (their daughter) will read from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle at the First Parish Church Meeting House on Tuesday Thursday, May 24, at 6:00 pm. Tickets are $5, but they are $85 if you want to attend the reception afterwards at UpStairs on the Square and get a copy of the book. Instead of talking about eating better, Barbara Kingsolver and her family actually did it and......

Roy Blount Jr. will be reading from Long Time Leaving: Dispatches From Up South at First Parish Church Meetinghouse on Wednesday, May 16, at 7:30 pm. Tickets are available at Harvard Book Store. On Saturday mornings, we need a Roy Blount Jr. fix. We're addicted. If he's not answering questions in NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me in his warm, avuncular, Southern-fried voice, we get crabby. We don't know why, but we love hearing him......

Robert Dallek will read from Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power on Monday, May 7, 2007, at 6:30 pm at the First Parish Church Meetinghouse. Tickets are $5 and are available at Harvard Book Store. We read an excerpt of Robert Dallek's exhaustive book on Nixon and Kissinger's relationship in Vanity Fair, and we thought that former president Nixon and his secretary of state Kissinger behaved in a manner more suitable for teenage girls than......