MEN IN BLACK

Chuck Klosterman wants to know why the prototypical villain is a man in a black hat, mustache curled, probably in the process of tying a woman to train tracks. Sloane Crosley just wants cake. This should make for some interesting conversation. To celebrate the release of his new essay collection, I Wear the Black Hat: Grappling with Villains (Real and Imagined), Klosterman takes part in the Word for Word lunchtime series. The pop culture critic rose to prominence with 2003’s Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs as well as one bold Coldplay burn. Now, several books and several more essays later, he’s exploring our society’s most memorable antagonists—namely, Bill Clinton, O.J. Simpson, the entire Oakland Raiders franchise, and the writers of Girls. Crosley, the personal essayist behind I Was Told There’d Be Cake (2008), hosts the reading and discussion.

Wed., Aug. 7, 12:30 p.m., 2013