Joe Donahue

D.T. Max sets out to chart David Foster Wallace’s tormented, anguished and often triumphant battle to succeed as a novelist as he fights off depression and addiction to emerge with his masterpiece, Infinite Jest, before his untimely death by suicide at the age of 46 in 2008.

Procrastinators have a reputation as loafers, laggards and lollygaggers. A bit harsh, believes University of California, Riverside philosopher John Perry, a self-described procrastinator who asserts that, unlike their reputation, most people who excel at postponing the inevitable actually lead productive lives by busying themselves with many tasks to avoid others deemed more onerous.

The exhibition, "Gathering Light: The Art of Stephen Hannock" will be up at the through October 21 at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center.

The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center is an independent, non-collecting museum housed in former train stations, with the old ticket windows still intact. The station was built in 1915 and re-opened as the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center in 1972.

For the very first time, Mo Willems, who is a phenomenon in the world of children’s books, is retelling a fairytale as only he can. With a hilariously arch narrator, a sassy Goldilocks, clever visual jokes, and of course, dinosaurs, this telling feels completely fresh—but with a nod to the classics.

What do you make of the tone of the Democratic National Convention so far?

Umberto Eco is an accomplished medieval scholar and author who is best known for his bestselling novel, The Name of the Rose. Now comes his latest, The Prague Cemetery , already a bestselling novel in 40 other countries around the world.

This story is based on monstrous and mysterious events of the 19th century including death of Ippolito Nievo, the forgery of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the Dreyfus affair and more. In the world Eco creates, conspiracies abound and one man finds himself in the middle of it all.

Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity has been serving families in Berkshire County for 20 years. In addition to their new-home construction and rehab housing, they also are a launch affiliate for Habitat’s International Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative.

The band BeauSoleil is playing a benefit show for Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity on September 18th.

We are joined by Executive Director, Carolyn Valli.

“Do not forget that ‘skill and integrity’ are the keys to success.” This was the last piece of advice on a list Will Thurmond gave his son Strom in 1923. The younger Thurmond would keep the words in mind throughout his long and colorful career as one of the South’s last race-baiting demagogues and as a a major figure in modern conservative politics.

Connie Brook from Battenkill Books in Cambridge, NY joins us with this week's list.

New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny will read from and sign her new book The Beautiful Mystery on Friday at the Odyssey Bookstore event at Gamble Auditorium in the Mount Holyoke College Museum of Art.