READING: Dave Eggers has delivered two (out of three) great novels, and tonight he reads from last one (which is just out on paperback), What is the What. He'll be at the Strand discussing the book and he'll also give a slideshow presentation from a recent trip he took to Sudan. More info here. Friday // 7pm // Strand Bookstore [828 Broadway] // Free EVENT: We love a good pillow fight, and tonight there's a......

Last Friday some shopped til they dropped, while others stopped shopping alltogether. Both groups saved money, and incase you were one of the ones who did so by abstaining from the almighty sale, check out what you "missed": While the lines were long, it's being reported that sales were down. Seems a lot of people didn't want to leave home and did their shopping online. Video via Glenn Gabel.......

As noted earlier today, a number of consumer activists, sweatshop protesters and anti-capitalist agitators have for years been working to turn Black Friday into Buy Nothing Day. Spearheaded by the anti-advertising gadflies at Adbusters, the event calls on individuals to suspend purchases for 24 hours and engage in creative activism to highlight the unsustainable patterns of mass consumer culture. Naturally, New York’s anti-corporate performance icon Reverend Billy is all over this. We spoke with......

Activists trying to turn Black Friday into Buy Nothing Day have their work cut out for them when it comes to consumers like Tom Shea, who waited in line outside a midtown Manhattan Best Buy for 35 hours so he could be the first one inside when the store opened at 4am today. “"If they were selling it, we were buying it," Shea proudly told the Post. His attitude was far from unique; shopoholics like......

READING: FreeNYC points us to a reading at B&N featuring Gong Show guru and possible CIA assassin, Chuck Barris: "In addition to bringing the world the Newlywed Game, the Gong Show and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Chuck Barris has now turned his attention to the phenomenon of reality TV in The Big Question, a dystopian view of what television will become in the near future.Come meet Barris and have your copy of his latest......

Dear Gothamist, I'm sure there are other people who want Wiis but are much too cool to wait in line or fight for one. But they're still hard to come by. I need me some citizen journalism action on this issue. Where are people getting Wiis, if anywhere? - Wah Wah Wii Wii It's so true. The Nintendo Wii has been out for almost two weeks, but they are still moving off the shelves......

Forget about that lingering cough getting better today or tomorrow. The National Weather Service issued an air stagnation advisory today that will be in effect until Wednesday for the NYC, Rockland, Westchester, and Suffolk areas. Via AccuWeather:THE NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION HAS ISSUED AN AIR STAGNATION ADVISORY FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES. SUFFOLK...NASSAU...RICHMOND...KINGS...QUEENS...NEW YORK...BRONX... WESTCHESTER...ROCKLAND. AIR QUALITY LEVELS IN OUTDOOR AIR ARE PREDICTED TO BE GREATER THAN AN AIR QUALITY INDEX VALUE OF......

The Hevesi probe (remember that?) is still going on-- and it has expanded to include Hevesi's Chief of Staff, who apparently was also abusing the state chauffeur services. City Comptroller Bill Thompson says the Department of Education's graduation rates may be inflated. The state agrees-- they say NYC's graduation rate is 43%, fifteen points lower than the City's estimate. A Bronx electrician took shelter from the rain at an Upper West Side newsstand. While......

Dunh dunh DUNH! It's the most insane shopping day of the year, thanks to most people being off and feeling that the day after Thanksgiving is an acceptable beginning to the Christmas shopping season. However, some stores were actually open yesterday, giving turkey and football some competition. Some stores opened at 5AM today, others at 6AM. In fact, some people have been flying in from overseas, perhaps to take advantage of the exchange rate!......

As mentioned earlier, the American Museum of Natural History unveiled its Origami Holiday Tree yesterday. Although the Origami Holiday Tree has been a tradition at the museum for more than thirty years (see last year's article), it's a good year to get into origami. Let's face it, with Polly Pocket recalled and Nintendo Wii sold out virtually everywhere, all kids may have left to play with this holiday season is wrapping paper. Five hundred paper......

We're worried that David Blaine has an eating disorder - he's planned his next stunt to take place over Thanksgiving! The illusionist, last seen submerged for days with gross skin issues at Lincoln Center, will be suspended over Times Square for three days. From E!:The challenge, sponsored by Target to kick off the holiday shopping season, will get underway at 10 a.m. Tuesday, when Blaine is slated to be hoisted by crane to his......

Okay, take a deep breath in...and exhale. It's been a doozy of a day. To recap: Millions of New Yorkers managed to (1) figure out how to get to where they needed to without buses or subways, (2) learn how to share cabs, (3) swarm Penn Station like it's Macy's on Black Friday, and (4) complain in new and interesting ways. The MTA and Transport Workers Union are still bickering over things, with various......

Ah, the day after the day after the day of the turkey. Not quite as famous as Black Friday, but still well regarded as one of the slowest news days of the year. Even if things of interest are going on in the world you wouldn't know it because nobody is reading or watching the news (which reminds us, why are you here? It's a beautiful day outside). OK, so now that we've got that......

Anyone who has ever worked in a bar will tell you that Thanksgiving is one of their busiest days of the year- what they don't tell you is that the day, like Black Friday, also begins the Christmas drinking. We thought that there was no better place to start drowning the sorrows that sing Christmas carols than at a bar so festooned with tinsel and lights, it actually makes us wonder if they are hiding......

Perhaps it's the effect of stuffing, or just some dastardly American capitalist plan, but the day after Thanksgiving is when everyone thinks they should start Christmas shopping, so people clog up stores and streets snatching up everything they can. Some stores out in the burbs even opened at 4AM! Now the subways can be filled with shopping bags so you can't stand; stores' inventory will be picked over; and people will have that glassy, dead......

With Thanksgiving just moments away, literary events in New York have gone into standby mode. Nonetheless, there are few things happening this week and a few things to keep your eyes on for next week. And, as a little gift to you from the city, it's all free! Happy Thanksgiving. Over Thanksgiving Thursday and Black Friday, if shopping isn't exactly your thing, tune into KCRW online to hear "Mean Streets USA: A Collection of Short......

Sure, all the news is obsessed with how well Black Friday shopping was, but Gothamist was more interested in a twist on Christmas shopping madness. The pepper spray incident at Toys R Us at Times Square on Saturday, which forced an evacuation of the store. Luckily, it seems that pepper spray only causes a "rotten egg" smell, burning in the throats, and coughing, so everyone was all right, but the store was closed for a......

Yesterday, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade went off without a hitch. Spongebob Squarepants, Pikachu, Super Grover, and more friends were guided down Manhattan to Herald Square, accompanied by clowns, marching bands, floats, and other performers. In fact, many people were caught with their coats tied around their waists, what with 64 degree weather. And the lovely weather is credited for making sure 2.5 million people turned out for the parade! The NY Times noted......

Today is that day of the year that consumer beasts stare down their lines of credit and shop till they drop: Black Friday, the start of the holiday shopping season. Many stores opened at 6AM and our spies reported that when they made it to some stores at 7:40AM, the stores were already sold out. One shopper told the AP, "It almost looks like looting except with checkouts at the front."......