Arts Fuse critics select the best in film, theater, dance, music, visual arts, and author events for the coming week.

By The Arts Fuse Staff

Film

Boston Area Film Schedules—What is Playing Today, Where, and When

Iranian Film Festival
January 21 – 31
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

Some of the best in world cinema comes from Iran, where filmmakers bravely work around censorship codes and other constraints to create thoughtful and compelling films of great beauty. Jafar (The Mirror, This is Not a Film) Panahi’s most recent film, Taxi, will be screened. Once again, this director challenges censorship codes and a 20-year ban on his own filmmaking. Arts Fuse review. Also, an Arts Fuse review of The President, which screens on Jan 24th.

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi with Mitchell Zuckoff
January 26 at 7 p.m.
AMC Boston Common

Boston University journalism professor Zuckoff presents a special screening of the new Michael Bay Hollywood spectacular based on Zuckoff’s non-fiction best-seller. It tells the gripping story of how the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, came under siege by Islamic militants. The first entry in this semester’s B.U Cinemathèque series is curated by cinema prof and Arts Fuse writer Gerald Perry.

Heart of a Dog with with A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
January 28
Brattle Theatre, Cambridge, MA

This week’s double feature from the Brattle’s (Some of) The Best of 2015 Series offers quite different meditations on life and existence. The former is performance artist Laurie Anderson’s documentary, of which she says: “It’s really about stories and why you make them and what happens when you forget them. And what happens when you repeat them, what happens when somebody tries to tell your story for you and it’s all wrong and you can’t stand it. It’s not a film about getting to know me. It’s full of questions about how do you remember things.” Arts Fuse review. The latter movie is a prime example of the idiosyncratic cinema of the brilliant Roy Andersson: “a succession of hallucinatory tableaux, each depicting a world of Beckettian loneliness and hyperreal drabness. It revolves loosely around two desolate figures trying to sell joke-shop novelties to various retail outlets, and who live in a flophouse where the lights go off in segments along the corridor, as in a horror film . . . Each interrelated scene is a vivid, eerily complete world.” (The Guardian)

Mojave
January 29 – February 1
Brattle Theatre, Cambridge, MA

“A thoughtful deconstruction of the film industry. Thomas is a talented artist with suicidal tendencies who ventures into the Mojave desert in search of deeper meaning in his shallow existence. When he runs into a simple yet threatening drifter, Thomas’ life is thrown off course. A man who rose to fame by defining reality with his own words, Thomas must snap out of his depressive rut to keep his family, his home, and the world as he knows it in balance. A delirious trip laced with humor and violence, where hero and villain collide for a wildly entertaining and smart ride.” (Tribeca Film Festival)

— Tim Jackson

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Dance

BalletBoyz
January 29 at 7:30 p.m. and January 30 at 8 p.m.
Citi Shubert Theatre
Boston, MA

Celebrity Series of Boston presents BalletBoyz for two nights only. Founded by former Royal Ballet principal dancers Michael Nunn and Billy Trevitt, this all-male company is renowned for its athleticism and fluidity. It has become a strong force in the field of modern dance. A free artist talk will follow the Friday night performance.

NACHMO
January 29 & 30 at 7 p.m., January 31 at 6 p.m., and February 7 at 6 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Dance Complex
Cambridge, MA

Twenty-seven choreographers converge this week and next for NACHMO (“National Choreography Month”) at the Dance Complex. Local choreographers will showcase new works created solely during the month of January. NACHMO “Shorts” will open this week’s CATALYST performances, while stand-alone NACHMO performances will take place on February 7th.

Trinity Irish Dance Company
January 30 at 8 p.m. and January 31 at 3 p.m.
Emerson/Cutler Majestic Theatre
Boston, MA

World Music/CRASHarts presents Trinity Irish Dance Company’s Boston premiere of The Dawn, a program that highlights some of the best progressive Irish dance and percussion in the world. The company has won an unmatched 17 world championships for the United States for its phenomenal work.

And further afield…

Bolshoi Ballet in HD
January 31 at 12:55 p.m.
Shalin Liu Performance Center
Rockport, MA

Rockport Music invites viewers to the theater this Sunday for a screening of Bolshoi Ballet’s new production: an adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic Taming of the Shrew. This new production is currently exclusive to the Bolshoi.

— Merli V. Guerra

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Visual Arts

On Exactitude in Science
January 28 – March 6
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

Though many think of “art” and “science” at opposite poles of human thought, the relationship has actually been close since the invention cave art. Periodically, the connections becomes obvious to everyone: in the anatomical and hydrodynamic studies of Leonardo, the planetary sketches of Galileo, the botanically correct paintings of Jacob van Ruisdael, the geometric and engineering-based architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, and the celebrated strobe photographs of MIT’s Doc Egerton, among other examples. This exhibition in the SMFA’s “international” exhibition series explores the description of physical space in prints, photographs, sculpture, .and performance by Jennifer Bornstein, Aslı Çavuşoğlu, Jumana Manna, and Elizabeth McAlpine. Opening Reception: January 28, 5–7 pm.

Mother’s Arms: Käthe Kolwitz’s Women and War
January 29, May 29
Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA

The German artist Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945) is famed for her prints, her championing of women in art, and her social activism. When her younger son was killed on the battlefield during World War I, she became an avowed activist and devoted her art to social causes. This exhibition, drawn from the Smith College collections with loans from public and private collections, has a distinctly biographical bent, focusing on Kollwitz’s images of women as mothers, protectors of children, rebel rousers and activists, bread winners, and mourners of the dead in wartime.

— Peter Walsh

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Jazz

Debbie Lane Quintet
January 26 at 8:30 p.m.
Lily Pad, Cambridge, MA.

The assured vocalist Debbie Lane digs into standards and not-so-standards from the ’20s to the present, celebrating the release of her debut CD, This Happy Madness. The band is pianist Bill Duffy, guitarist John Baboian, bassist David Landoni, and drummer Steve Langone.

Steve Bilodeau Trio
January 26 at 10 p.m.
Lily Pad, Cambridge, MA.

Guitarist and composer Steve Bilodeau has a tuneful pen as well as the requisite learned 21st-century guitar chops, emphasizing content over fancy noodling. The recent New England Conservatory grad is celebrating the release of a new CD, joined at the Lily Pad by saxophonist Richard Garcia and drummer Dor Herskovits.

Donny McCaslin Group
January 27 at 7:30 p.m.
Regattabar, Cambridge, MA.

Veteran saxophonist and composer Donny McCaslin and his group play their first Boston gig since the release of David Bowie’s Blackstar, for which they were the backing band. An unhappy coincidence, but there you have it. I don’t think McCaslin has had Bowie in his post-electronica repertoire of original compositions, but who knows? The superb band includes, keyboardist Jason Lindner, bassist Tim Lefebvre, and drummer Mark Guiliana.

For Ornette (Part 2)
January 28 at 8 p.m.
Lily Pad, Cambridge, MA.

The Lihi Haruvi Group presents the second of its Ornette Coleman tribute shows, with guest saxophonist George Garzone of the Fringe joining saxophonist Haruvi, guitarist Thiago Gomes, pianist Henrique Einsenmann, bassist Neil Patton, and drummer Dor Herskovits.

Kenny Garrett Quintet
January 28, 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Scullers Jazz Club, Boston, MA.

Alto saxophonist Garrett has been a star at least since his days with Miles Davis, with a huge sound an imagination, and a taste for pop tunefulness and strong grooves.

J.D. Parran and Harlem Reunion
January 30 at 8 p.m.
Outpost 186, Cambridge, MA.

The distinguished New York reed and flute man J.D. Parran, known for his performances with everyone from Anthony Braxton and Derek Bailey to John Lennon, Stevie Wonder, and the Band comes to the cozy confines of Outpost 186 with bassist Larry Roland, pianist Alexis Marcelo, and veteran Boston percussionist Yedidyah Syd Smart.

Charles Lloyd & the Marvels
January 31 at 8 p.m.
Berklee Performance Center, Boston MA.

Lloyd is, of course, the incomparable 77-year-old Memphis-born saxophonist, flutist, composer, and tireless mystic seeker. The Marvels are bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Eric Harland, from Lloyd’s New Quartet, and guitarist Bill Frisell and steel guitarist Greg Leisz. The band’s new Blue Note CD, I Long To See You, covers Ed McCurdy’s “Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream” (featuring guest singer Willie Nelson) and Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War” — as well as Lloyd originals, hymns and folk songs, and Norah Jones singing Billy Preston’s “You Are So Beautiful.” So there’s an Americana slant to some of it, but this is otherwise a typical Lloyd album in its calm deliberation and sutra flow. (No, the singers are not on the tour.)

— Jon Garelick

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Theater

Cardboard Explosion! performed and directed by Brad Shur. At the Puppet Showplace Theater, 32 Station Street, Brookline, MA, through January 24.

The world premiere production of a “one-of-a-kind puppetry experience” that received a 2016 Jim Henson Foundation Family Grant. In the show, “five original stories are brought to life using nothing but cardboard and the power of an audience’s imagination. Inspired by everyday details from kids’ lives, puppeteer Shur transforms simple cardboard shapes into elaborate puppet characters and and fantastical scenes, then brings them to life before the audience’s eyes.”

Via Dolorosa by David Hare. Part of the third annual Next Rep Black Box Festival in the Black Box Theater at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown, MA, through January 31.

Hare’s one-man show about the political and cultural quandaries afflicting Israel will be performed by David Bryan Jackson. Arts Fuse review.

Violet by Jeanine Tesori, music, and Brian Crawley, lyrics and book. Directed by Paul Daigneault. Music direction by Matthew Stern. David Connolly, choreography. Staged by the SpeakEasy Stage Company in the Virginia Wimberly Theatre in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street in Boston’s South End, through February 6.

The New England premiere of the New York version of a musical that proffers a folk, rock, and gospel score. The show “tells the story of a young North Carolina woman named Violet who travels by bus across the South in 1964 to see a faith-healer she hopes will transform her life. Along the way, she forms unlikely friendships with her fellow passengers, and learns that it’s the journeys you take in life that help you discover who you are.” Arts Fuse review

Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar. Directed by Gordon Edelstein. Staged by the Huntington Theatre Company in association with the Long Wharf Theatre, at the Boston University Theatre, Boston, MA, through February 7.

In this Pulitzer prize-winning play, “high-powered New York lawyer Amir has climbed the corporate ladder while distancing himself from his Muslim roots. When he and his wife Emily host a dinner party, what starts as a friendly conversation escalates, shattering their views on race, religion, and each other.” The script is definitely one of the flavors of the season: “Disgraced is being produced at 10 major American regional theatres this season and will be produced across the United States 32 times over the next two years, as well as several productions overseas. A film version of the play is also in the works with HBO.” Arts Fuse review

The White Chip by Sean Daniels. Directed by Sheryl Kaller. Staged by the Merrimack Repertory Theatre at the Nancy L. Donahue Theatre, 50 East Merrimack Street, Lowell, MA, through January 31.

The world premiere of a “dark comedy about the science of addiction” written by Daniels, MRT’s Artistic Director. The script is “based on his own struggles with alcoholism and path to recovery.” The impressive cast of the 90-minute drama includes Benjamin Evett, Isabel Keating, and Jeffry Binder. Arts Fuse review

The Housekeeper by Ginger Lazarus. Directed by Shana Gozansky. Staged by Fresh Ink at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA, through January 30.

“This new local work tells the story of Adelina, a new housekeeper for widower Charlie Frey and his daughter Kaila. When she meets Charlie’s dead wife, Carson, she is not surprised. But soon she finds herself confronting more mess than she can handle—in the chaotic Frey household and in her own life.”

Sondheim on Sondheim, Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Conceived by James Lapine. Directed by Spiro Veloudos. Music director, Jonathan Goldberg. Choreography & musical staging by Ilyse Robbins. Staged by the Lyric Stage Company at 40 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA, through February 21.

“With songs taken from nineteen Sondheim shows produced over a 62-year period, eight of your favorite Boston-based musical-theatre artists (Leigh Barrett, Mala Bhattacharya, Maritza Bostic, Christopher Chew, Aimee Doherty, Davron S. Monroe, Sam Simahk, and Patrick Varner) will perform well-known, rarely heard, and cut material, featuring video commentary from the master himself.”

Winter Panto 2016: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Written and directed by Matthew Woods. Staged by imaginary beasts at the Plaza Black Box Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont Street, through January 30.

“Hold onto your hats! imaginary beasts sweeps into town like a cyclone this January with a tale full of magic and wonder when they refashion an American classic into a fantasy of technicolor proportions.”

Nice Fish, conceived, written, and adapted by Mark Rylance and Louis Jenkins. Directed by Claire van Kampen. Staged by the American Repertory Theater at the Loeb Drama Center, Cambridge, MA, through February 7.

“On a lake in frozen Minnesota, the ice is beginning to creak and groan. It’s the end of the fishing season, and two men are out on the ice one last time, angling for answers to life’s larger questions. A play woven together from the acclaimed prose poems of Louis Jenkins, Nice Fish reflects nature with a wry surreality.” Mark Rylance is a terrific actor … so this production looks most promising.

Twelfth Night, an adaptation of the Shakespeare play by Filter Theatre (in association with Royal Shakespeare Company). Directed by Sean Holmes. Presented by Arts Emerson at the Paramount MainStage, 559 Washington Street, Boston, MA, through January 30.

The second rock version of one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays to pop up in the area recently.  I sense a pattern. Maybe, if I live long enough, I will see a rap version of Timon of Athens. This British company is offering a “fresh, antic remix of Shakespeare’s beloved comedy, classical verse meets merry mayhem as two worlds collide.”

The Body of an American by Dan O’Brien. Directed by Jo Bonney. At Hartford Stage, 50 Church Street, Hartford, CT, through January 31.

According to critic Christopher Arnott of the Hartford Courant, this two-man autobiographical play — a drama about the relationship that developed between playwright O’Brien and photo-journalist Paul Watson – is “compelling yet strangely calm; it makes you question matters of life, death, war and peace. It values friendship. It leads you through the creative process, the journalistic process and the grieving process. It’s a grand poetic statement that gains power and humanity from being so eloquently staged.” The script comes with plenty of garlands: it is the winner of the inaugural Edward Kennedy Prize, the Horton Foote Prize for Outstanding New American Play, and the PEN Award for Drama.”

The Convert by Danai Gurira. Directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian. Staged by the Underground Railway Theater at the Central Square Theater, Cambridge, MA, January 28 through February 28.

“Southern Africa, 1895: A young Shona girl escapes an arranged marriage by converting to Christianity, becoming servant and student to an African Evangelical. As anti-European sentiments spread throughout the native population, she is forced to choose between her family’s traditions and her new-found faith.”

Milk Like Sugar by Kirsten Greenidge. Directed by M. Bevin O’Gara. Staged by the Huntington Theatre Company in the Roberts Studio Theatre in the South End / Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, MA, January 29 through February 27.

“Annie and her teenage friends want the same things: the hottest new phones, cute boys, designer bags. But when they enter into a pregnancy pact, she wonders if there might be a different path and a brighter future.” The Luck of the Irish dramatist “finds raw humor and gritty poetry in this provocative, ripped-from-the-headlines new play that explores what it means to acquire the status the world says you deserve when the opportunity and means to attain it are not afforded to you.”

The Moors by Jen Silverman. Directed by Jackson Gay. Staged by the Yale Repertory Theatre at 1120 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT, January 29 through February 20.

The world premiere of what sounds like a postmodern theatrical homage/sendup of Gothic conventions. “The bleak moors of England. The bleakest. Two spinster sisters—one desperately unhappy, the other resolutely miserable — live with their elder brother and their mastiff in a gloomy, old mansion. When a governess is summoned to their isolated home, teeming with secrets and desires, what price might they pay for love? The play was “inspired (perhaps) by certain 19th-century gothic romances, and the sisters who wrote them.”

The Testament of Mary by by Colm Tóibín. Directed by Jim Petosa. Staged by the New Repertory Theatre in the Black Box Theater at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown, MA, January 30 through February 28.

Could it be? Protesters at a theater production? How refreshing. There are reports that some Catholic groups are offended by Colm Tóibín’s iconoclastic version (in his novel) of the Virgin Mary. Paul Langton stars in this adaptation for the stage.

Molly Pope Likes Your Status, written and performed by Molly Pope. Presented by the American Repertory Theater at Oberon, Cambridge, MA, on January 29.

Pope: “a brassy belter/whiskey guzzler/benevolent lunatic – sheds all pretense of humility and shamelessly entreats you to adore her for an hour while she prances about making loud noises.” The kick-off of “GLOWBERON, a series of solo performance and cabaret in partnership with the Afterglow Festival, founded by Quinn Cox and John Cameron Mitchell, and based in Provincetown, MA.”

— Bill Marx

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Rock, Pop, and Folk

Rustic Overtones (with Kat Wright)
January 29 (doors at 8 p.m., show at 9 p.m.)
Brighton Music Hall, Allston, MA

“One of my favorite groups”— (Rustic Overtones collaborator) David Bowie. “Quite possibly the tightest band I’ve ever seen”— (Rustic Overtones collaborator) Ray Lamontagne. In addition to these relatively noteworthy musicians, this Portland, ME, septet has also garnered praise from national publications such as Rolling Stone and Billboard. The band has also opened for, among others, Run-DMC and De La Soul. Catch its fiery live show at Brighton Music Hall this Saturday, which Burlington, VT’s Kat Wright will open.

Wilco (with William Tyler)
January 29 and January 30 (7:30 p.m.)
Orpheum Theatre, Boston, MA

One of the most popular and influential bands of the past two decades will treat Boston to two shows at the Orpheum this weekend. I, for whatever reason, have never become a fan. Not that I have never given them a chance. In fact, I own copies of several of their albums, including the new one that they gave away free downloads of last year. Maybe Wilco—like My Morning Jacket—just isn’t my thing. However, I am sure that any number of the several thousand folks who see either or both of these performances will happily tell me about the awesomeness that I missed. (Then again, I have always believed that the best cure for skepticism is to see a band live….)

Lyres, The Paul Collins Beat, the modifierS
January 30 (door at 7 p.m.)
Middle East Upstairs, Cambridge, MA

Legendary Boston band Lyres and “tube-screaming indie rock” locals the modifierS will be joined by power pop veteran Paul Collins for a once-in-a-lifetime bill at the Middle East Upstairs. Of the three of my picks that are on Saturday, this is the one that I will be attending. Arts Fuse interview with Paul Collins

The Dictators (with Lenny Lashley’s Gang of One, Nick and The Advesaries, and Neutral Nation)
January 30 (9 p.m.)
Great Scott, Allston, MA

Those who love them some classic NYC proto-punk have long since grabbed their tickets for The Dictators at Great Scott on Saturday. Formed two years before the 1976 debut by The Ramones, these guys managed to successfully blend heavy metal with the trashy glam rock of the New York Dolls while covering songs by artists as disparate as Sonny & Cher, The Stooges, and The Flamin’ Groovies.

Upcoming and on sale:

For the Sake of Song: The Music of David Bowie (Atwood’s Tavern, February 4); The Machine Performs Pink Floyd (The Cabot, February 5); Johnny A (Johnny D’s, February 5); Lee Fields & The Expressions (Sinclair, February 12); Ms. Lauryn Hill (Paradise Rock Club, February 13-14); Lady Jane Grace & The Devouring Mothers (Sinclair, February 17); Rhett Miller (Johnny D’s, February 17); Neko Case (Orpheum Theatre, March 2); Rickie Lee Jones (Johnny D’s March 8); Air Traffic Controller (Sinclair, March 12) Lucinda Williams (Paradise, March 21-22); Bonnie Raitt (Orpheum Theatre, March 29)

— Blake Maddux

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Classical Music

Orchestre National de France
Presented by the Celebrity Series
January 24, 3 p.m.
Symphony Hall, Boston, MA

The ONF returns to Symphony Hall with music by Debussy, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky. Alexander Thaurad is the soloist in Mozart’s 23rd Piano Concerto; occasional BSO guest conductor Daniele Gatti conducts.

All Flesh is Grass
Presented by the Seraphim Singers
January 24 and 31, 3 p.m.
First Church, Cambridge (on the 24th) and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Brookline (on the 31st)

Seraphim offers an intriguing program of music by three 20th-century composers – Hugo Distler, Ildebrando Pizzetti, and Edwin Fissinger – that reflect on “death and eternity.” Jennifer Lester conducts.

Shakespeare via Weber, Henze, and Mendelssohn
Presented by the Boston Symphony Orchestra
January 28-30 and February 2, 8 p.m. (1:30 p.m. on Friday)
Symphony Hall, Boston

Andris Nelsons returns to Symphony Hall for his first residency with the BSO of 2016, an extended commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. Mendelssohn’s complete incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream closes the program; it’s prefaced by Hans Werner Henze’s Symphony no. 8, a piece that “illustrates” various episodes in the play, and Carl Maria von Weber’s Overture to Oberon.

Israel in Egypt
Presented by the Cantata Singers
January 29 (at 8 p.m.) and 31 (at 2 p.m.)
Cary Hall, Lexington (on Friday) and Jordan Hall, Boston (on Sunday)

David Hoose conducts two performances of the complete, three-part version of Handel’s evocative oratorio.

The Call of History
Presented by the Concord Orchestra
January 29 and 30, 8 p.m.
51 Walden Street, Concord

Richard Pittman conducts the CO’s first program of 2016, which showcases young artist winner Haig Hovsepian performing Aram Khachaturian’s exuberant Violin Concerto. Music by Handel, Mendelssohn, and Joyce Mekeel.

— Jonathan Blumhofer

Music for Food: From the Top Alumni and Omer Quartet
January 25 at 7 p.m.
At Brown Hall/New England Conservatory, 290 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA

“A performance of enticing chamber music guaranteed to ward off the winter chill!” All proceeds benefit a pantry to be chosen by the musicians.

Devotion: Blue Heron Renaissance Choir & A Far Cry
January 29 at 8 p.m.
At Old South Church, 645 Boylston Street, Boston, MA

“From the mind of Jason Fisher comes Devotion, in which the sublime and sensual intertwine, a collaboration between A Far Cry and the voices of Blue Heron. Renaissance motets, 20th century showcases, and Fauré’s melting Requiem, all in the beautiful resonance of historic Old South Church.”

— Susan Miron

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Author Events

Stephen Prothero

Why Liberals Win the Culture Wars (Even When They Lose Elections): A History of Religious Battles That Define America from Jefferson’s Heresies to Gay Marriage
January 26 at 7 p.m.
Harvard Book Store, Cambridge MA
Free

If Donald Trump’s current double-digit lead in the GOP primary polls alarms you (and why wouldn’t it?) don’t despair — Stephen Prothero, a Boston University professor, offers reassurance. He puts today’s ideological conflicts in perspective, outlining the history of conservative and liberal debate in American history. Prothero argues that, over time, liberal ideas have always ultimately prevailed.

Samantha Hunt
Mr. Splitfoot: A Novel
January 26 at 7 p.m.
Newtonville Books, Newton Centre, MA
Free

The literary world is abuzz with interest in the acclaimed novelist’s latest work. The novel tells the story of two women who are involved in different ways with a mysterious cult that practices necromancy as a way of entertaining orphaned children. Hunt’s writing has been called “dazzling” as well as “dark and delicious” from many sources within the literary world and this book is receiving plenty of critical acclaim.

Jay Atkinson
Massacre on the Merrimack: Hannah Duston’s Captivity and Revenge in Colonial America
January 28 at 6:30 p.m.
Stellina Restaurant, Watertown, MA
Free

The story of Hannah Duston’s capture and revenge has been a part of Haverhill lore since precolonial times. Jay Atkinson comes to Stellina’s Restaurant in Watertown to read and discuss his retelling of the story over cocktails and dinner- reservations are preferred. Arts Fuse review

Roberto G Gonzales
Lives in Limbo: Undocumented and Coming of Age in America
January 29 at 3 p.m.
Harvard Book Store, Cambridge, MA
Free

The usual narrative about immigration is that education and hard work are the answers to getting ahead in America. Gonzales, an assistant professor of education at Harvard University, explains that due to a broken immigration system, opportunities for the two million undocumented immigrants who have lived in the U.S. since childhood don’t have a better chance to advance in society than their peers.

Leo Damrosch
Eternity’s Sunrise: The Imaginative World of William Blake and Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World
January 29 at 7 p.m.
Harvard Book Store, Cambridge, MA
Free

Largely ignored in his lifetime, it took a while for William Blake — brilliant poet, painter, illustrator, and radical philosopher- to get his proper appreciation. Jonathan Swift is probably best known for Gulliver’s Travels, but his scathing social and political criticism on behalf of his fellow Irish still burns. Damrosch, research Professor of Literature at Harvard University, will read from his award-winning books celebrating each writer’s lives and works. Arts Fuse review of Eternity’s Sunrise.

David Greenberg
Republic of Spin: An Inside History of the American Presidency
February 3 at 7 p.m.
Newtonville Books, Newton Centre, MA
Free

Politicians and the campaign managers behind them have always needed to manipulate public opinion. The presidential scholar, whose work has appeared in magazines from Slate to The Atlantic, traces the history of political spin from Woodrow Wilson’s first White House press conference to bully pulpit of Teddy Roosevelt into the mendacious rhetoric of the 24-hour news cycle.

— Matt Hanson