Event forecast: Michael Lenehan on APT, Erika Janik at East Library, Tim Lapetino at 42 Lounge, Jason Diamond at Urban Harvest, Lucy Jane Bledsoe, Theatre Gigante's "Santaland Diaries," Neal Shusterman at Shorewood Library, and Shauna Singh Baldwin's new collection of essays.

Monday, December 5, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Michael Lenehan, author of Much Ado: A Summer with a Repertory Theatre Company

Michael Lenehan is an award-winning Chicago-based writer and editor, who for many years was the chief editorial executive at the Chicago Reader. He has written for the Atlantic Monthly, where he was a contributing editor in the 1980s and 90s, and for Chicago magazine and The New York Times, among others.

Lenehan chronicles the development of the legendary American Players Theatre production of Much Ado About Nothing, from casting to costumes.

From Mike Fischer in the Journal Sentinel: "I’ve experienced more such moments at APT than any theater in the country. It’s nice to see a good book make so much ado about the many magicians bringing those moments to life."

Tuesday, December 6, 6 pm, at East Library, 2320 N Cramer St at North Ave:
Erika Janik, author of Pistols and Petticoats: 175 Years of Lady Detectives in Fact and Fiction

Erika Janik is an award-winning writer, historian, and the executive producer of Wisconsin Life on Wisconsin Public Radio. She’s the author of five previous books, including Marketplace of the Marvelous: The Strange Origins of Modern Medicine.

Her newest is Pistols and Petticoats, which tells the story of women’s very early place in crime fiction and their public crusade to transform policing. Whether real or fictional, investigating women were nearly always at odds with society. Most women refused to let that stop them, paving the way to a modern professional life for women on the force and in popular culture.

East Library is a beautifully designed branch of the Milwaukee Public Library. It's just across the street from Beans and Barley, giving you the perfect dinner option.

Tuesday, December 6, 7 pm, at 42 Lounge, 326 E Mason St in downtown Milwaukee
Tim Lapetino, author of Art of Atari

Tim Lapentino is the Executive Director of the Museum of Video Game Art. Lapentino teaches logo design, brand identity, and brand standards as Adjunct Faculty at Chicago Portfolio School, and serves on the non-profit AIGA Chicago's Board of Directors as Co-Development Chair.He also co-authored the design inspiration book Damn Good: Top Designers Discuss Their All-Time Favorite Projects and has written for HOW, Geek Monthly, RETRO, and other publications.

Atari is one of the most recognized names in the world. Since its formation in 1972, the company pioneered hundreds of iconic titles, including Asteroids, Centipede, and Missile Command. In addition to hundreds of games created for arcades, home video systems, and computers, original artwork was specially commissioned to enhance the Atari experience, further enticing children and adults to embrace and enjoy the new era of electronic entertainment. Art of Atari is the first official collection of such artwork.

42 Lounge is the perfect place to enjoy an event that celebrates the world of Atari. If you've never been, join us for an evening at a bar that celebrates the geek in all of us. As it's a bar, 21+ admission is required.

Wednesday, December 7, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Lucy Jane Bledsoe, author of A Thin Bright Line

Lucy Jane Bledsoe is an award-winning science writer and novelist for adults and children.Her many books include The Ice Cave: A Woman’s Adventures from the Mojave to the Antarctic, The Big Bang Symphony: A Novel of Antarctica, and This Wild Silence.

Here's a bit about the new novel. "At the height of the Cold War, Lucybelle Bledsoe is offered a job seemingly too good to pass up. However, there are risks. Her scientific knowledge and editorial skills are unparalleled, but her personal life might not withstand government scrutiny. Leaving behind the wreckage of a relationship, Lucybelle finds solace in working for the visionary scientist who is extracting the first-ever polar ice cores. The lucidity of ice is calming and beautiful. But the joyful pangs of a new love clash with the impossible compromises of queer life. If exposed, she could lose everything she holds dear."

Wednesday, December 7, 7 pm, at Urban Harvest Brewery, 1024 S Fifth St in Walker Point
Jason Diamond, author of Searching for John Hughes: Or Everything I Thought I Needed to Know about Life I Learned from Watching ‘80s Movies

Jason Diamond is an Associate Editor at Men’s Journal, a columnist at Electric Literature, former Literary Editor at Flavorwire, and the founding editor of Vol. 1 Brooklyn. Diamond grew up in the Chicago area, where he had a tough childhood, but found inspiratio in the films of John Hughes, the acclaimed Chicago filmmaker responsible for the adolescent angst classics Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, and The Breakfast Club, to say nothing of a little crowd pleaser called Home Alone.

Here's the Wall Street Journal review of Searching for John Hughes.

Urban Harvest is a great brewery with a theater in the back of the tasting room. If you've never been before, this is a great opportunity to check it out. As it's a bar, 21+ admission is required.

Friday, December 9, 7 pm, at Boswell
Theatre Gigante presents Michael Stebbins reading “The Santaland Diaries” from David Sedaris’s Holidays on Ice

Theatre Gigante, headed by co-artistic directors Isabel Kralj and Mark Anderson, is a performing arts organization dedicated to the creation and presentation of performance work that integrates theater, dance, text, and music, through which the company fosters inter-disciplinary collaborations and original work. For the holiday season, Theatre Gigante is presenting a reading of "The Santaland Diaries," the famous essay turned radio monologue turned stage play. First heard on NPR in 1992, it's David Sedaris's story of being an elf at the Herald Square Macy's Santaland.

Daniel aside: I have a friend (not Sedaris) who actually was an elf at Santaland in the late 1970s while I worked in the basement packing hard goods at Macy's Herald Square.

Saturday, December 10, 2 pm, at Shorewood Public Library, 3920 N Murray Ave, just south of Capitol Dr:
Neal Shusterman, author of Scythe, volume one of the Future Perfect series

Neal Shusterman is The New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty award-winning books for children, teens, and adults, including Unwind and its sequels, The Skinjacker trilogy, Downsiders, and Challenger Deep, which won the National Book Award. He also writes screenplays for motion pictures and television shows.

Here's the setup for the new book: "A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery: humanity has conquered all those things, even conquered death. Now Scythes are the only ones who can end life and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control. Citra and Rowan are teenagers who have been selected to be scythe’s apprentices, and—despite wanting nothing to do with the vocation—they must learn the art of killing and come to understand the necessity of what they do."

Boswellian Kelli O'Malley gives two thumbs up to Scythe, praising the writing and the surprising places the plot goes. She's read a lot of YA novels so it takes a lot to surprise her.

Monday, December 12, 7 pm, at Boswell (corrected):
Shauna Singh Baldwin, author of Reluctant Rebellions: New and Selected Nonfiction

Baldwin’s fiction, poems, and essays have been published in literary and popular magazines, anthologies, and newspapers. Her work has been translated into fourteen languages. In fifteen speeches and essays written between 2001 and 2015, Shauna Singh Baldwin brings a new perspective and voice to Canadian public discourse. Offering examples from her personal journey as a writer and a South Asian woman who needs to “become as hyphenated as possible,” Baldwin transcends homogenized national identities.

Baldwin is a Canadian and Milwaukee treasure both whose work has been shortlisted for the Giller Prize.