Shall I Read or Look at Naked Ladies?

BOOKS
All Shall Be Well; And All Shall Be Well; And All Manner of Things Shall Be Well

The history of literature—up to and including the stuff piled on the
new arrivals tables at your local bookstore—is crammed with oddballs
and anachronisms. That said, it’s still a rare novel that can take such
raw materials and make something truly funny, compelling, and moving
out of them. Based on the early reports, Tod Wodicka’s
debut novel—which features a tunic-wearing medieval re-enactor as a
protagonist—consistently hits all the right grace notes. British
reviews have consistently remarked on both the book’s comedy and its
compassion, and All Shall Be Well has drawn comparisons to both Don Quixote and the novels of Charles Portis. It doesn’t get much more promising than that. —Brad Zellar

Available today in bookstores.

BOOKS & AUTHORS
Hated Ideas and the American Civil War Press

Do all ideas deserve protection? Can and should people say or even
publish whatever is on their mind? Should there be some kind of limit
to free speech? Author, media historian, professor Hazel
Dicken-Garcia will be addressing these tough questions today, as she discusses the
content of her new book, Hated Ideas and the American Civil War Press.
This book asserts that hated ideas (such as abolitionism and slavery
during the American Civil War) are sometimes valuable ideas. She
explores the controversial world of news media and the coverage of
hated ideas. Dicken-Garcia proves that history is alive and that there
is a lot to learn from it. What do you think? Should the First
Amendment be static? —Kate Leibfried

4 p.m., University of Minnesota Bookstore, Coffman Memorial Union, 300 Washington Ave. S.E., Minneapolis; 612-626-0559; free.

ART
Body Songs

Sometime you just have to see an exhibit because the title is far too seductive to pass up. Body Songs. Body songs. In this case, quite literally, body songs. The exhibit, which opened yesterday (with an official reception to follow on Friday), features a 25-year retrospective (1967 to 1991) of Judith Roode’s articulate drawings of the female figure. Through them, Roode addresses the usual (and yet compelling) dichotomies of public/private, exterior/interior, naked/clothed, mind/body, and power/opression. But above and beyond any deep analysis you might draw from viewing the exhibit, you should simply enjoy — enjoy the sheer beauty of the form.

8 a.m. – 8 p.m., The Catherine G. Murphy Gallery, 2004 Randolph Ave., College of St. Catherine, St. Paul; 651-690-6644.