Best Reading by an Author We Want to Hang Out With

Alexandra Fuller is downright charming. That is the main thing we learned when she read from her autobiographical new book, Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight. The book is about Fuller's childhood in Africa, where her parents -- drunken Brits who clung to their white supremacy in the face of political upheaval -- warned the young girl not to wake them suddenly at night, lest they shoot her accidentally. The candor it required for Fuller to write such an honest and sometimes unflattering (if still affectionate) book came with her to the podium at Unity Temple; she talked about why she wrote the book, why she wants to go back to Africa after a peaceful stretch in Wyoming and -- most hilariously -- how her parents reacted when they read her account of their lives. (Apparently, her mother complained that Fuller made her look like a drunk, to which Fuller replied, "Mum, you are a drunk.") Not to be totally superficial, but Fuller also has a damn nice accent, which wins points.