Lou Reed has been quite busy these days. When he's not collaborating with Metallica on a record, he's spending time putting together a graphic novel based around his "spiritual forefather" Edgar Allen Poe, called, appropriately, The Raven. more ›

Welcome to our newish weekly column, Staff Picks, in which we ask the staffers at our favorite book, music, and movie stores around to town to share with us what they're reading, listening to, and watching this week. We figure they're good people to ask. Last week we talked to Adam Sypnier at Videology, and this week we head to Strand, home of "18 Miles of Books!" to talk to staffer Colin M. about what he's been dog-earing lately. more ›

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... more ›

Books, or at least book shelves, must be on this couple's wedding registry: The Post has a cute story about a couple whose engagement took place at the Strand Bookstore. Joshua Reich and Shianling King "always told friends they met at the Strand," but they actually met online - their first date was supposed to be at the Museum of Modern Art, but the lines were so long that they went to the Strand instead.... more ›

In May word was spreading that the famed Gotham Book Mart would be shutting its doors as the owner, Andreas Brown, was forced to pay overdue rent. At that time, the entire contents of the shop ("from rare first-edition John Updike novels to the worn-out oriental rug on the third floor") were sold for $400K at a court-mandated auction. The Post called it an "undignified last chapter for the institution - beloved by the likes of Edward Gorey, J.D. Salinger and Jackie Kennedy Onassis." more ›

ART: Affordable art is the best kind, so good thing there's a whole fair dedicated to it. Today 70+ artists worldwide will be selling their work at prices ranging from $100 and up. Get something to cover up those bare walls and support artists all at the same time. more ›

The store was founded by Ben Bass on what was known as Book Row, which at the time housed 48 bookstores. Today it's run by Fred and Nancy Bass. When asked how the business changed over the past 80 years and if people are still as literary as they once were, Fred Bass answered: more ›

MUSIC: Doug Martsch of Built to Spill performs a stripped down acoustic set tonight before heading over to Irving to play with the band. This will be pretty amazing, so even if you missed out on tickets to the show at Irving, try to catch him solo. more ›

EVENT: Tonight at the Apple Store, the NYC photobloggers get together again. Come check out: Scott Heiferman, Kara Canal, Rebecca Smeyne, Will Sherman, Kamau Mucoki, Boogie and Martin Fuchs. more ›

MOVIE ART: Young artists with wtf?-attitudes come together to bring us "Risky Business" - a showcase of mixed media, including video, sculpture, collage, painting, and photography. A parents-out-of-town themed art party will follow the opening. more ›

GAME ON!: NY Games presents Capture the Flag! We love this game. If you love it too, come be a spectator - or join in! Team Caution plays Team Danger...which will you root for? more ›

THEATER: The Ohio Theater is the site of two of summer's best play festivals, and the first, Clubbed Thumb's eleventh Summerworks, started yesterday with Anne Washburn's I Have Loved Strangers, "in which true prophets, false prophets, and non-prophets battle for the salvation of ancient New York." On the company's website http://www.clubbedthumb.org/ you can do some "research" before going, via various eyebrow-raising links; or you can just rely on the winning trifecta of excellent track records: of the Ohio, of Clubbed Thumb, and of Washburn herself, whose play Apparition recently showed to well-deserved acclaim. Over the next weeks, two other plays will be in the festival -- Erin Courtney's Alice the Magnet, and Rachel Hoeffel's Quail -- but each is showing for only a few days, so get under the thumb while you can. - Mallory Jensen more ›

View this clip on Vimeo more ›

Gothamist loves fun facts, but when we hear that yesterday's sweltering weather set new Con Ed records for power usage, we're not sure if we should be proud or slightly nervous of brownouts. The Post says that 12,361 megawatts of electricity were chruned out yesterday, besting its August 9, 2001 record of 12,207. Con Ed says the East 14th Street power station is helping to meet the demand; of course, there have been some problems at that station in the past. With the growth of the city, and explosion of electrical gadgets, Gothamist wonders will Con Ed be able to keep up? At any rate, the best quote about the weather comes from Strand Bookstore owner Fred Bass; Bass bought air conditioning for the store and says, "My employees are smiling for the first time ever." more ›

Nancy Bass, Bookseller more ›

Spigelman will be joined by a number of other authors - Nicholas Basbanes, Richard Brookhiser, Adam Bellow, Harold Evans, John Fund, Amy Goodman, Nat Hentoff, Peter Osnos - at the Strand (826 Broadway at 12th) from 12PM-4PM; C-SPAN will also be broadcasting the readings and Q&A's! Here's Michiko Kakutani's NY Times review of In The Shadows of No Towers A Comics Journal interview with Spiegelman, some Maus resources. And for other things to do this Labor Day Weekend: Coolfer's Music Picks
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