The man whom I consider the best writer in the city, and one of the best writers of our times, Jonathan Raban, reads from his collection of essays titled Driving Home: An American Journey. For reasons that relate to his health, the “eloquent Englishman,” as one reviewer at the New York Times called him, has been out of the public eye for more than two years. This reading is something like the return of a major writer, a writer whose opinions have been attacked by the likes of Christopher Hitchens and admired by the likes of Salman Rushdie, who once wrote: “When Raban describes America and Americans, he is unfailingly witty and entertaining.” (Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave, spl.org, 7 pm, free)