Pencil This In

EVENT: Author Robert Roper will be on hand tonight to discuss Walt Whitman and his part in the Civil War. "Whitman was a nurse and wrote some of his most moving poetry about the experience, partly because he – and others – were afraid that the horrors of the war would be forgotten by future generations. In this compelling narrative, Roper weaves together the story of an archetypal American family—from rural Long Island to working-class Brooklyn—enduring its own long crisis alongside the anguish of the nation."

6:30 p.m. // Tenement Museum Shop [108 Orchard St] // Free

THEATER: Mike Daisey's solo show, If You See Something Say Something, is a funny and fascinating exploration of the American nuclear arms industry and our current Homeland Security misadventures, made personal by his truly weird first-hand account of visiting Los Alamos and the Trinity test site in New Mexico. The monologue is over ninety minutes long, but Daisey is such a deft storyteller that it feels like half that. Our enthusiastic review is here, and Michael Criscuolo at nytheatre.com loved it too: "I don't think I'm being too hyperbolic by calling it one of the most important shows of the year, if not the most important." – John Del Signore

7 p.m. // Joe's Pub [425 Lafayette St] // Ticket prices vary.

READING: The one and only Quincy Jones (father of ex-Office employee Rashida Jones) will be reading from his jam-packed new biography at Barnes & Noble tonight. Did you know he's credited for discovering Oprah? Come and take it all in with excerpts from The Complete Quincy Jones: My Journey & Passions, read by the man himself.

7 p.m. // Barnes & Noble [33 E 17th St] // Free

MUSIC: Death by Audio welcomes Boogie Boarder, Snakes Say Hisss!, Hume and one of our faves, The Muggabears, to the stage tonight. Get there early, stay late, but most importantly: bring earplugs!

8 p.m. // Death By Audio [49 S 2nd St, Williamsburg] // $tba