Who’s in town
Fiction writer, memoirist and culture critic Edmund White reads from his latest novel, “Jack Holmes and His Friend.” [7 p.m., City Lights Bookstore, 261 Columbus Ave., S.F.]
Lectures
Robert Reich: The former U.S. secretary of labor and current UC Berkeley professor lays out his thoughts on the current administration and the nation’s economy. [6 p.m., Fairmont Hotel, 950 Mason St., S.F.]
David Zetland: The water economist discusses how we can manage our most precious resource in the 21st century and what we can learn from past mistakes. [Noon, Commonwealth Club, 595 Market St., S.F.]
Literary events
Rudolph Herzog: The filmmaker and author talks about “Dead Funny: Humor in Hitler’s Germany.” [7 p.m., Jewish Community Center, 3200 California St., S.F.]
June Chen: The local author talks about “Seeing the Light,” a novel. [7 p.m., Books Inc., 74 Town and Country Village, Palo Alto]
Book talk: Humanities West presents a discussion of Dostoevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov,” with one eye on the Jungian archetypes on display in this Russian classic. [5:30 p.m., Commonwealth Club, 595 Market St., S.F.]
At the colleges
Gene Youngblood: The theorist of media arts, politics and the history of alternative cinemas discusses what is at stake in the epic struggle for control of the Internet. [7:30 p.m., San Francisco Art Institute, 800 Chestnut St., S.F.]
Cass Calder Smith: The locally based architect and interior designer discusses his work. [7 p.m., California College of the Arts, 1111 Eighth St., S.F.]
Richard Egarr: The British keyboardist gives a harpsichord performance of Bach’s “Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I.” [8 p.m., Dinkelspiel Auditorium, Stanford University, Stanford]
Richard Rhodes: The Pulitzer Prize winning author discusses “Hedy’s Folly.” [6 p.m., Mechanics’ Institute, 57 Post St., S.F.; RSVP: rsvp@milibrary.org or (415) 393-0100]
At the public library
Black History Month: Musician and teacher Carl Winters shares his knowledge of the kalimba, the African thumb piano, in this program for kids of all ages. [5:30 p.m., Bayview Branch, 1601 Lane St., S.F.]
‘Creative Reuse’ class: Participants can learn to turn discarded “junk” into works of art during this session for ages 12 to 19. [4 p.m., Excelsior Branch, 4400 Mission St., S.F.]
City
Clarinet trio: Trio di Clarone, a clarinet trio featuring Sabine Meyer, performs a program of chamber music by Mozart, Poulenc, Stravinsky, J.S. Bach and C.P.E. Bach. [8 p.m., Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave., S.F.]
Literary theater: The Word for Word literary theater company presents “Food Stories” — tales of food, appetite and pleasure from authors T.C. Boyle and Alice McDermott. [7 p.m., Z Space, 450 Florida St., S.F.]
Career coaching: The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce hosts its Job Forum, a panel-conducted discussion open to anyone experiencing job-finding problems. [6:30 to 8:30 p.m., 235 Montgomery St., 12th floor, S.F.]
Dining out
Zare at Fly Trap: Chef-owner Hoss Zare recommends a Persian lamb dish featuring a personal twist or two. It includes braised lamb neck with abgoosht (a sauce containing turmeric, lime and lamb jus) and roasted lamb chop with fesenjoon (pomegranate-walnut reduction). Additional ingredients include torshi (Persian pickled vegetables). Next week: head-to-tail goat with gheymeh stew. [606 Folsom St., S.F.; (415) 243-0580]
