Your High-Brow Weekend

In case you were in need of some cultural enrichment this weekend, here are some cerebral events for your consideration:

SATURDAY (11/11)

Do you only attend panel discussions featuring historic icons? Well, you're in luck this weekend as The Ransom Center presents A Conversation with Norman Mailer, literally. Norman Mailer, Gay Talese, and Lawrence Schiller will participate in a discussion moderated by professor Steven Isenberg. Admission is free and seats will go fast. Doors open at 3pm and the event begins at 3:30pm in UT's Jessen Auditorium. [Map]

At 5PM you can learn how to feign sophistication when discussing wine as Jane Nickles presents Wine Speak 101 at BookPeople. [Map]

SUNDAY (11/12)

Slate's Chief Political Correspondent John Dickerson will be at BookPeople to discuss On Her Trail: My Mother, Nancy Dickerson, TV News' First Woman Star. The biography is a great read and it's a safe bet that Dickerson will be up for discussing recent political events as well. It all goes down at 3pm in the old bookstore next to the new REI. [Map]

From 7-9pm Progress Coffee plays host to Joyce Maynard, author of The Cloud Chamber, as she presents her latest release Internal Combustion: The Story of a Marriage and a Murder in the Motor City. [Map]

If you're curious about what the smart kids are up, head over to Club De Ville at 7:30pm. The Michener Center for Writers 2nd year class will be providing "An Evening of Readings" from all genres poetry to prose. Mental stimulation is free, booze is not. [Map]

Image taken from Flickr user JasonRogers