Monday
History buffs, take note: Battle Lines is not your ordinary Civil War read. This books is a team effort by graphic novelist Jonathan Fetter-Vorm and award-winning historian Ari Kelman, and it’s sweeping, full-color panoramas combined with Kelman’s nuanced understand of the period provide a whole new perspective on the topic. The authors will talk about the book with acclaimed graphic novelist Josh Neufeld (A.D. New Orleans After the Deluge) accompanied by images from Battle Lines on Greenlight’s big screen.
Monday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m. Greenlight Bookstore, 686 Fulton Street (Fort Greene).
Everyone’s so amped to see Jessica Hopper talk about her book The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic that WORD decided to give her two back-to-back time slots, so there’s no excuse for any music lover to not come out and watch this Pitchfork senior editor ruminate on everything from the Riot Grrrls insurgence to decamps to Gary, Indiana, following Michael Jackson’s death.
Monday, May 11 at 6:30 p.m. and again at 7:30 p.m. WORD Bookstore, 126 Franklin Street (Greenpoint).
Tuesday
Join Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver bassist Duff McKagan for the release of his second book How to Be a Man (and other illusions); it’s understandable if you’re not accustomed to taking life advice from a man who’s pancreas exploded, but for five years McKagan 
wrote a column for Seattle Weekly with installments like “Learn how to fight,” “Don’t road-rage,” “Lead by example” and “Don’t be a pussy,” so if nothing else it’s bound to be an entertaining evening.
Tuesday, May 12 at 7 p.m. Strand Books, 828 Broadway (East Village).
Celebrate the life and work of Galway Kinnell (1927-2014), Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and founder of the NYU Creative Writing Program. An all-star cast of authors will pay tribute to the legendary poet, including Jonathan Safran Foer (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close), Toi Derricote, Mark Doty, Robert Hass, Edward Hirsch, Marie Howe, Yusef Komunyakaa, and C. K. Williams.
Tuesday, May 12 at 7:30 p.m. Cooper Union, The Great Hall, 7 East 7th Street (East Village).
Friday
What do you get when you mix the style of Hunter S. Thompson with Studs Terkel and Great Depression-era WPA guides? Something like City by City, a collection of essays drawn from the n+1 series of the same name. The book sweeps through the country from Alaska to Florida mining stories of gentrification, underemployment, politics, culture and crime and how these forces shape urban life.
Friday, May 15 at 3:45 p.m. BookCourt, 163 Court Street (Cobble Hill).
Saturday
You might think you could mellow out after a long week to a night of poetry set to live jazz, but we have a feeling there won’t be any danger of falling asleep at the Louis Reyes Rivera Annual Tribute: Flowing River of 
Words, at the East Village’s historic slam poetry hub the Nuyorican Poets Café. Rivera was a Brooklyn poet, teacher, activist and jazz musician who described himself as the “Janitor of History” and was committed to the progressive and political power of jazz and poetry. His 70th birthday celebration will feature emerging talents who personally identify with his work.
Saturday, May 16 at 6:30 p.m. Nuyorican Poets Cafe, 236 East 3rd Street (East Village).