DANIYAL MUEENUDDIN

Tuesday: This writer, who grew up in Pakistan and Elroy, Wis., burst onto the literary scene last January with a stunning collection of linked short stories. "In Other Rooms, Other Wonders" was a New York Times bestseller and a finalist for a National Book Award in fiction, and was named one of the top 10 books of the year on a whole slew of lists -- by Publishers Weekly, Time magazine and the Guardian, to name a few. Mueenuddin will be at the Galleria Barnes & Noble for a reading, discussion and signing, part of a tour that will also take him to Milwaukee and to Prairie Lights Books in Iowa City. But we get him first. (7 p.m. Tue. Barnes & Noble, 3225 W. 69th St., Edina. 952-952-920-0633)

LAURIE HERTZEL