Though author Mona Simpson now lives in L.A., it was in New York at Columbia University’s MFA program (and the Hungarian Pastry Shop) that she started her 1987 bestselling debut novel, Anywhere But Here. Tonight she’ll read from her first novel in 10 years, My Hollywood. The story concerns Claire, a classical composer and new mother who reluctantly moves to L.A. from the East Coast for her husband’s TV-writing job, and the Filipino nanny who steps in to save her failing marriage. ANGELA ASHMAN

Thu., Sept. 30, 7 p.m., 2010