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MONDAY

Gregory Maguire has been lurking on the best-seller lists for nearly a decade, quietly luring readers to his unlikely genre: historical adaptations of fairy tales. His best-known novel, 1995’s Wicked, told the life story of the Wicked Witch of the West, and Maguire’s also given his distinctive treatment to Cinderella and Charles Dickens. His latest novel, Mirror Mirror, sets the Snow White tale in 16th-century Tuscany, substituting poison-wielding Renaissance villainess Lucrezia Borgia for the evil queen and trading dwarfs Sneezy and Bashful for Heartless and Gimpy. Reading Mirror Mirror, it’s easy to see why Maguire’s tremendously ornate prose and flamboyant storytelling appeal to his devoted followers. But his days as a cult writer may be numbered: Later this month, a musical adaptation of Wicked opens on Broadway. Maguire reads at 7 p.m. at Olsson’s Books & Records, 1200 F St. NW. Free. (202) 347-3686. (Mike DeBonis)