Last year's Stranger Genius for literature is perhaps the greatest reader of his own work in the writing business. He makes his listeners literally slap their knees with laughter one moment and moves them to tears the next. (I've seen it happen.) He's debuting his new collection of stories, War Dances, tonight. Alexie is always at his best when he reads new material. Many of these stories are about bad decisions (hate crimes, affairs), and there's nothing funnier—or sadder—than stories about bad decisions. This reading should be amazing. (Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 652-4255. 7:30 pm, $5.)