Good Thought: Five Smart Events in NYC This Week

A holiday break may be fast approaching, but New York shows no signs of slowing down. Catch bold-faced names and a host of bright scribes all week long.

Monday, November 17th

Noah director Darren Aronofsky joins soundtrack contributor Patti Smith for a conversation at the Museum of the Moving Image. You’ll also get a screening of the film and a live performance by Smith.

Tuesday, November 18th

Rick Moody (The Ice Storm, On Celestial Music) comes to Brooklyn’s WORD to speak with novelist Darcey Steinke about her latest book, Sister Golden Hair, set in the summer of ’72.

Wednesday, November 19th

Christina Baker Kline’s Orphan Train is the story of a child sent to the Midwest as one of the quarter-million children displaced by the “orphan trains,” which ran from East Coast cities between 1853 and 1929, now grown up and uncovering the mystery of her past. She’s joined by Kate Manning, author of My Notorious Life, at the Tenement Museum.

Thursday, November 20th

Catch Al Pacino live on stage, where he’ll be interviewed by director Barry Levinson after a preview screening of their adaptation of Philip Roth’s novel The Humbling, the story of a fading actor’s involvement in a dangerous affair.

Friday, November 21st

The New School celebrates the 10th anniversary of Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove’s Voices of a People’s History of the United States. Wallace Shawn, Allison Moorer, Viggo Mortensen and Peter Sarsgaard will be among the luminaries taking the stage.