It took Rafi Zabor 19 years to write The Bear Comes Home, the tale of a Charlie Parker-worshipping, alto-sax-playing ursine who not only speaks fluent English but has an interspecies love affair with a rather open-minded woman named Iris. Is the book Dr. Seuss for jazz-loving pervs? Or is it a magical but serious fable? It garnered raves from artists like Pat Metheny for its descriptions of improvisational music and grabbed the 1998 PEN/Faulker Award for its touching poetics and irony. Decide for yourself when Zabor, a jazz writer for Musician magazine, reads from the book to the live musical accompaniment of Grady Johnson, Steve Novosel, Larry Eanet, and Jerry Jones as part of the Duke Ellington Centennial Celebration and the Folger Shakespeare Library’s PEN/Faulker reading series at 8 p.m. at the Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol St. SE. $10. For reservations call (202) 544-7077. (Christopher Porter)